Unextreme Molly

Some very interesting post responses over at TulipGirl on her Ezzo series. A commenter nicknamed Molly wandered in and pointed out that you can go crazy on any parenting method, not just Ezzo. She shows up in this thread and this one. She says

What's wrong with finding a balance--finding what works for your own particular family? Every home will be different, every home OUGHT to be different.


I entirely agree. And I think the best parenting resources are the ones that say so up front. Ezzo, sadly, is not one of these as far as I can tell. It takes a great deal of balance and discernment to sift the good stuff out of an unbalanced and undiscerning source. For developing discernment in evangelical Christians, I recommend these old family friends, although they mostly focus on discernment about cultural trends rather than parenting decisions.

Finally, in the first discussion thread mentioned above, Molly said that her first child cried constantly until she just let her cry herself to sleep and (for once!) get a good night's rest. I just have to add this caveat: we have some friends whose baby also was colicky (a medical term for "we don't know what the heck is wrong") and constantly crying. When the doctor diagnosed a serious heart condition, he asked them "Do you leave her and let her cry herself to sleep?" When they answered no, he said "Good, because if you do the stress might very well kill her."

So, on the crying-it-out, I just recommend caution.


UPDATE: Molly writes the My Three Pennies Worth blog. It looks like a pretty good one!