Hi Rose,
Everyone is entitled to their opinions and what works for one family doesn't work for another. I have a friend who has used the book and feels it was the best for her and her family and I don't doubt that it was the right way for her to respond to her children - but I also know that it is NOT the right way for me to respond to my child.
What I most disagree with is the book's stance on demand feeding and how demand fed babies can grow into children who are insecure, unable to amuse themselves, and unable to self sooth. Now I admit that could be the situation for SOME people but certainly not everyone. I will use just myself, my sister and my brother as an example. My sister and I were both bottle fed, thus schedule fed, and both of us sucked our thumbs for a LONG time (me age 8 my sister until age 14), both of us had security issues throughout our childhood and needed a stuffed animal, a blankie, our thumb, or each other (we often slept together until we hit high school) to comfort and sooth ourselves to sleep at night.
My brother on the other hand, was breastfed the longest (he self weaned at 10 months), and was demand fed the whole time. He NEVER sucked his thumb, used a dummy, had a stuffed animal or a blankie or needed to sleep with my parents or us to sooth himself to sleep. He is the most secure of all of us and was much more able to amuse himself and play on his own at a much younger age then my sister and I.
I'm sure if I read through the book again I would have a LOT more to say about it but I'll stop there. Again, I'm not upset at all by what you said, and I'm glad the book and its methods worked well for you, your family, and your children, but it just isn't my cup of tea and I prefer a more gentle approach with my son.
One final point, neither myself, nor my sister, nor my brother slept through the night consistently until about 14-16 months so I disagree that HOW and HOW often the baby is fed has anything to do with ability to sleep through the night!

I hope I haven't offended with any of my comments, just wanted to clarify my thoughts!