Thanks to new fMRI technology [functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging], we are finally able to see that this is not an "emotional weakness" as Gary Ezzo infers in his book Babywise, but a biological function of the female brain!
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/05/11/Womens-brains-hard-wired-to-respond-to-a-babys-cry/UPI-13431368318718/
We're created that way. Male and female brains are different. Women, even when they are not mothers, cannot simply ignore the cries of a baby the same way a man can.
In Babywise, author Gary Ezzo calls this feminine compulsion to care for infants "unchecked emotionalism" and even claims it is "dangerous."
As a lay pastor, Mr. Ezzo is certainly familiar with Genesis 1:27
"So God created man in His [own] image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."Since God is plural ("Let us make man in our image, after our likeness") so mankind is also plural being made in His likeness; represented in the male kind and female kind, each expressing different qualities of God's image. This is why 'the two shall become one' in marriage, their individual strengths now united to complement each other.
One of God's titles, "El Shaddai" is derived from the word for "breast" which symbolizes the One who nourishes us, satisfies us, comforts and sustains us.[http://www.parentcompany.com/awareness_of_god/nog6.htm]
Let's look at some female characteristics of El Shaddai, our Many-Breasted One:
"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." Joshua 1:5
"The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you." Deut 33:27
"For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones..." Isaiah 49:13
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" Isaiah 49:15
When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. Exodus 22:7
Many of the verses in the Bible using Shaddai describe the Almighty as the one who blesses (eg.Gen 49:25) and in Whom we delight (eg. Job 22:26) and in whom we take refuge (Psalm 91:1)
Let's now compare these Godly qualities with the Babywise doctrine:
Babywise tells us to leave our babies during the night. After 8 weeks, forsake their nighttime needs. Far from allowing the quiet refuge of everlasting arms under the child, Ezzo warns against holding the baby "too much" and recommends the use of playpens, baby seats, cribs and blanket training to keep them apart.
Mother is told to forget the baby at her breast to go on dates with her husband.
She is to have no compassion when they cry out to her. In fact he discourages parents from using a baby monitor so that you will not hear the baby's crying,
This is what Gary Ezzo calls "parenting from a biblical mindset" in his Preparation for Parenthood course.
