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Loading... The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your…by Harvey Karp
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. lquilter | Jun 5, 2009 |   This is the one "must-read" even if you read no other books for new parents. I have recommended this to many first time parents and every one of them has come back to say thanks. The concepts are pretty simple, so simple they seem obvious once you read them but they make a huge difference. The techniques, the 5-S's described in other reviews, are simple and so easy to use that it's easy to say think "I didn't need them" but in retrospect they become ingrained. (  )BrauerFamily | Apr 4, 2009 | The premise of this book is that babies should be treated like they're in utero for about 3 months after they're born. The author promotes carrying babies in slings or pouches and co-sleeping with babies. (  )rfewell | Jan 27, 2009 | Part 1 of review - Prior to birth of baby. As everyone sings that praises of the ideas put forth in this book, I decide to use some freebie amazon certificate to buy it. Like most books on childcare - it is a quick read - so I decided to read it in full before the baby, and then to sample back to the parts I needed when my sleepless nights starts. So in that spirit - this book is more of a marketing forum for one man's ideas than a description of the causes of colic. As a scientist I was particularly bothered by the fact that we he listed the supporting facts for each of his theories they were always the same. He also chose not to provide the data on colic which i would like to think he collected for his academic research. That said, I know have a spectrum of things to try to calm a crying baby and some of them are not in other books. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, so I will try to complete my review when my child is 4 months old... Part 2 of review - After birth of baby. hmmmm...my baby didn't really cry much and all that expected fussiness and late nights never materialized. There were a few hints in the book that helped a bit - like direction of rocking and SHHHHHHing but in general there just wasn't much for me to need to use. (  )piefuchs | Aug 3, 2008 | Awesome book to for help with new parents, or even people that have had babies. The book goes over actual ways to help your baby start the 'crying reflex'. Every parent should own this book. ( )89vine | Jul 12, 2008 | 0.046 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0553381466, Paperback)In perhaps the most important parenting book of the decade, Dr. Harvey Karp reveals an extraordinary treasure sought by parents for centuries --an automatic “off-switch” for their baby’s crying.No wonder pediatricians across the country are praising him and thousands of Los Angeles parents, from working moms to superstars like Madonna and Pierce Brosnan, have turned to him to learn the secrets for making babies happy. Never again will parents have to stand by helpless and frazzled while their poor baby cries and cries. Dr. Karp has found there IS a remedy for colic. “I share with parents techniques known only to the most gifted baby soothers throughout history …and I explain exactly how they work.” In a innovative and thought-provoking reevaluation of early infancy, Dr. Karp blends modern science and ancient wisdom to prove that newborns are not fully ready for the world when they are born. Through his research and experience, he has developed four basic principles that are crucial for understanding babies as well as improving their sleep and soothing their senses: ·The Missing Fourth Trimester: as odd as it may sound, one of the main reasons babies cry is because they are born three months too soon. ·The Calming Reflex: the automatic reset switch to stop crying of any baby in the first few months of life. ·The 5 “S’s”: the simple steps (swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing, swinging and sucking) that trigger the calming reflex. For centuries, parents have tried these methods only to fail because, as with a knee reflex, the calming reflex only works when it is triggered in precisely the right way. Unlike other books that merely list these techniques Dr. Karp teaches parents exactly how to do them, to guide cranky infants to calm and easy babies to serenity in minutes…and help them sleep longer too. ·The Cuddle Cure: the perfect mix the 5 “S’s” that can soothe even the most colicky of infants. In the book, Dr. Karp also explains: What is colic? Why do most babies get much more upset in the evening? How can a parent calm a baby--in mere minutes? Can babies be spoiled? When should a parent of a crying baby call the doctor? How can a parent get their baby to sleep a few hours longer? Even the most loving moms and dads sometimes feel pushed to the breaking point by their infant’s persistent cries. Coming to the rescue, however, Dr. Karp places in the hands of parents, grandparents, and all childcare givers the tools they need to be able to calm their babies almost as easily as…turning off a light. From the Hardcover edition. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:22 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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He "discovered" the infant calming reflex. Karp "discovered" the toddler approach. Oh please! He named things (rocking babies, swaddling, saying shush; talking to toddlers on their level) and made a brand. I might note that his claims to have "discovered" what has been known and practiced by most of the world for most of human history eerily echo the claims of many other "discoverers" of lands and knowledge possessed only by natives, women, and other non-important people.
Oh, and also? In Happiest Toddler his whole premise is based on the idea that "toddlers are little cavepeople", and he has articulated it by assigning stages of human evolution to stages of infancy. This, he tells us, is based on the scientific principle that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" -- apparently, his genius was to see that toddlers are still developing! So they are ontologizing too! or something. Anyway Haeckel's recapitulation theory is wrong. It seems intuitive to people first learning about development and/or evolution, but it was refuted numerous times in the 20th century. One would have hoped that in the years Karp claims to have spent researching anthropology, biology, and so forth, he would have come across some of the literature actually discussing why it was wrong, and why educational vogues based on these ideas a hundred years ago are also wrong.
And his artfully posed author picture kills me.
Never mind. If you can get beyond the lame theorizing, and the pompous gasbaggery (carefully disguised in a patronizingly playful tone), and the painful politics of white male professionals claiming to have "discovered" historical parenting techniques -- if you can get past all that, then there are some nuggets in the books. For the most part these nuggets can be garnered by skimming through the book in half an hour. The videos are more useful, as they show actual parent-child interactions.
In summary: Check out of the library; do not buy. (