Book Review - The Happiest Baby on the Block

Phew - it's been another hectic week. I was out of town on Thursday and Friday, but that gave me a chance to catch up on some over due reading and finish The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer (by Dr. Harvey Karp).

As the title suggests, the book is all about soothing fussy or colicky newborns and only covers the first three months. While the information and strategies in the book will be invaluable to new parents, I think the entire book could have easily been a two-page pamphlet - but then again, you can't really sell a pamphlet for $15 US (or $21 CDN). A lot of the book is Dr. Karp's explanation of why some babies are fussy and why his theory on soothing babies is better than others. Essentially, his view is that human babies are missing a 'fourth trimester' which they need to develop some vital skills (e.g. self-soothing) - so in order to help our babies, we need to provide conditions that closely mimic the womb.

In case you're not in the mood to read through 288 pages, I'll give you the quick summary of the 'cuddle cure' - Dr. Karp's 5-step process for calming babies (the following 5 S's need to be done in order):

1. Swaddling: Babies need to be swaddled really tightly so they don't flail around their hands and freak themselves out. The key here is to swaddle your kid tight, even if they seem to resist it at first. Being bound up tight is what newborns are used to from their time in the womb! Here's a quick how to.
   
   
2. Shh..ing: Next, you need to 'shh' into your baby's ear. The shhing needs to be as loud as the baby's crying and as the baby starts to calm down, your shhing should get softer as well. The womb is a loud, loud place (apparently louder than a vacuum cleaner) so the white noise of the shhing is very calming. You can also have some white noise near your sleeping baby to help them sleep longer (you can download a clip of white noise from beprepared.net).
   
   
3. Side/Stomach: One of the reflexes that we are born with is the 'Moro reflex' (also known as the startle reflex) - and when we're newborns, the Moro reflex can be triggered easily when we're placed on our backs, we feel like we're falling. The Moro reflex is believed to be the only unlearned fear for humans. So by placing a baby on his/her side or stomach instantly shuts down the Moro reflex and soothes the baby. Again, the side/stomach position is what newborns got used to in the womb. Of course, babies should always sleep on their backs as this reduces the risk of SIDS.
   
   
4. Swinging: Next, you need to 'swing' the baby.. but this needs to be a short, jiggly motion rather than wide swings. The book suggests a few different positions - one involves putting the baby on your knees, supporting the head in your hands and shaking your legs quickly to give the baby a 'jiggling'. As the baby soothes, you can slow down the motion or put your baby in a swing. Apparently, babies should never be placed in a swing when they're wailing! You have to wait until they calm down a bit before unloading them in the ol' swing. The explanation behind this is that when babies are in the womb, they are constantly being rocked by their mother's movements, so they still need the same treatment in the first three months. Guess this explains why a lot of the rockers/swings I've seen have a vibrate feature!
   
   
5. Sucking: Lastly, you are supposed to let the baby suck on something (a nipple, a pacifier, your clean finger, etc.). Before three months, babies do not have enough motor control to keep their own finger/thumb in their mouth for self-soothing. Pacifiers are a little tricky because you don't want to cause your newborn 'nipple confusion', so the general advice is to wait at least a month if you can. Another complication is that newborns aren't very good at keeping the pacifier in their mouth, so the book suggests a little trick to help develop this skill. Place a pacifier in your baby's mouth and then slowly try to take it out - the baby will resist this and try to pull the pacifier back into his/her mouth. Doing this often will help the baby turn out to be a regular Maggie Simpson.

So I may not have done the book justice with the summary above, but honestly, that is the general essence of the book.

There is also a companion website at http://www.thehappiestbaby.com/

On to The Baby Whisperer...