Harvey Karp

Review of The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block.

Karp "discovered" the toddler approach. He "discovered" the infant calming reflex. 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 show more 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. show less

Modern classic book on helping newborns to cry less.

The book is a classic because his methods work. I had been previously taught the 5 S method (swaddle, shush, side/stomach, swing/shake, suck) so those sections were not particularly helpful, but I did appreciate a number of asides on topics like ear infections and teeth coming in. I also appreciated the section on how the 5 S's apply to sleep, complete with recommendations for timelines for weaning. I took specific notes in the comments on show more my instance of the work.

N.B.: I'm not sure what the second edition adds beyond a lot of thinly-veiled advertising copy for a "smart sleeper" that "automatically adjusts to your baby's sleep needs" (the only one on the market appears to be sold by the same folks who wrote the book). If the chapter on sleep was added to sell that machine, the second edition is still worth seeking out because the chapter is worthwhile. But if the first edition also has that chapter, I'd recommending seeking out the first edition; the second edition's self-serving regular admonitions to consider such a machine sat very poorly with me. show less

Review of The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block.

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 show more 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. show less

This book was recommended by a friend who used the author's methods with her newborn. I found the methods to be extremely useful with my own newborns - swaddling alone would calm them down in seconds. But the style of the writing itself was so repetitive that I found myself irritated.

The thesis of the book is that babies are born when they are not because they are developmentally ready to be born, but because that is the moment they are best able to survive outside the womb and be born in a show more manner that is safe for them and their mothers. The techniques focus on recreating "womb-like" conditins for the baby, with swaddling, shushing, and jiggling, among other suggestions. The newborn, thrust into a world it is not ready to join, feels comforted by these techniques, and becomes calmer.

As noted by other reviewers, these techniques are primarily useful for the baby's first 3 months (longer, if the baby is premature). However, I found that my babies (I had two) responded extremely well to all the suggestions. A good swaddle, and my babies slept peacefully. We eventually stopped swaddling when they outgrew the blankets we used, but by then the babies didn't need it. I suspect that the techniques made our first months with our children much easier.

So, why did I only give three stars? Well, I'm not just reviewing the techniques, but the style and tone of the book, which suffer from an overly friendly, supposedly "accessible" style and was repetitive and cloyingly perky. Another reviewer said it, and I agree, the concepts of the book could probably fit in one small review such as this. My recommendation, therefore, is to borrow the book from a friend or the library, or buy a copy from a used-book store. It is worth your time to read, but it is not worth the money that is charged for it. show less