Related articles and links |  1 of 3

A household name among many Christian parents with newborns, Ezzo has been unable to shed doubts about the child-rearing methods in his popular book On Becoming Babywise. In addition, church leaders with past ties to Ezzo describe him as "disqualified" for Christian ministry and his parenting materials as "fraught with danger" (CT, Nov. 13, 2000, p. 70).

A central element of the Ezzo plan is feeding newborns on a structured schedule controlled by parents, rather than "on-demand," whenever an infant indicates hunger. Ezzo's program teaches that in order to develop respectful, obedient, and godly children, parents must exercise restrictive control. Ezzo and his Growing Families International (GFI) organization report that more than 500,000 infants have been trained to sleep soundly through the night through the method.

Yet many breast-feeding mothers have reported a failure to produce an adequate milk supply when following the program. Some pediatricians see inadequate weight gain, dehydration, and failure to thrive among newborns on the program. Ezzo has also instructed parents of the importance of leaving infants alone in their cribs so the infants will experience periods of solitude. Many parents have admitted, however, that they left their children crying alone for too long while trying to follow Ezzo's recommendations for scheduled feeding and nap times. Critics also question other Ezzo emphases, such as introducing a form of spanking in children younger than 2.

Multnomah's decision to break ties with the author came after years of persistent controversy regarding Ezzo's professional and personal integrity. Several churches that Ezzo and his wife, Anne Marie, have attended have publicly rebuked the author for his lack of truthfulness and failure to distinguish between his preferences and biblical teaching.

Despite having no medical training or health-care certification, Ezzo first published his methods in Preparation for Parenting, a book that contained many biblical references. Later, he removed the religious references and renamed the book On Becoming Babywise. Robert Bucknam, a Colorado physician, is listed as coauthor of Babywise, although no substantial changes were made to the original text or to the methods taught after Bucknam signed on.

Multnomah began investigating the allegations by contacting physicians and other professionals qualified to discuss early childhood development. The inquiry itself was a reversal for the publisher. About a year ago, Multnomah issued a lengthy statement defending Ezzo and his parenting philosophies. But ongoing public pressure from journalist Frank York, one of Ezzo's former employees, as well as Matthew Aney, a pediatrician affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), prompted the company to take a deeper look. Aney wrote a detailed article, published by the AAP two years ago, listing the potential dangers of Ezzo's methods.

Multnomah's Jeff Gerke, who has edited several of Ezzo's books, spearheaded his company's investigation. In early March, when Aney became convinced that Multnomah was not prepared to fully disclose its findings, he contacted Christianity Today. Aney provided CT with several e-mails between Gerke and himself.

Gerke told Aney that he initially investigated the allegations believing that Ezzo had been unfairly attacked, but later changed his mind. "I'm personally convinced Gary Ezzo and his infant care materials are dangerous," Gerke wrote. "He has no medical training and therefore no business writing medical books—or disregarding the advice of bona fide medical professionals."

next page... |  1 of 3

share this page

March (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45