The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer by Harvey Karp Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer
Book Review: Ideas for newborns only
Summary: 2 Stars
This book should be titled The Happiest NEWBORN on the block. I would have loved this book when my baby was a few weeks old since the ideas sound reasonable for the newborn stage. However, the suggestions don't work for an older baby. The 5 S's are: Swaddle (My active 10 month old would not go for this!) Put baby on his Side/Stomach (at 10 months you don't PUT him anywhere!) Shhhhh (he thinks that's funny) Swinging (I think every mother sways with a fussy baby, it's natural) Sucking (He does plenty of that!) I had to keep searching and luckily found a book for with plenty of answers, it's The No-Cry Sleep Solution, a great book for babies of any age since it also has a newborn section, maybe not as structured as this one, but lots of the same ideas. (Another thing that's rather weird about The Happiest Baby, the endorsements are from Michelle Pfeiffer (actress) Pierce Brosnan (actor) plus lots of other actors and movie directors. I like movies, too, but when I want advice about baby-care I don't get why these endorsements mean anything.)Book Review: Not for older babies
Summary: 1 Stars
After reading these reviews I rush-ordered this book. I was disappointed to find that the entire book is for newborn babies only. Once your baby is too old to swaddle this book isn't for you. I purchased several others at the same time and found that The No Cry Sleep Solution has great ideas for all babies and even toddlers. The ideas in the happiest baby book cannot be applied to a baby that is over about 3 months old. If you look at the main points you'll see they are: swaddling, placing on his side or stomach, saying Shhhh, Swinging, and Sucking. I also suspect that if you always do this with your newborn you may create sleep problems for when you can't do them any more. Beware! If your baby is over 3 months this isn't the book you are looking for.Book Review: In the Fight Against Colic: Well Worth It
Summary: 4 Stars
Colic. If you've been there, chances are you've still got the scars. Nothing can erase the memory of the endless crying, the feeling of desperation and isolation and your shattered confidence. In case you hadn't guessed, I've got the T shirt on this one. Our first baby was colicky even by the cranial osteopath's standards. And we were terrified of a repeat performance if we dared to have another. And so you'll understand why, five months into my second pregnancy, I took a real interest in a newspaper review of this book. Karp claimed his methods could 'cure' colic. His basic idea - though he takes the sixty pages to say it - is that babies are simply born too early. They need another three months cooking time. And it's 'only' because us women can't actually push out babies with bigger heads that they arrive after 'just' nine months (his words, not mine)
Karp says that, depending on temperament, some babies deal with their early arrival better than others. And it's upon this premise that 'cure' is based. He explains that by recreating the conditions of the womb, we can do much to sooth our jumpy babies in their struggle to adapt to the outside world. Being American, this cure has to have a snappy name. In this case it's 'the 5 S's' - swaddling, side (or stomach) position, shhhhh, swinging and sucking.
A whole chapter is devoted to how to perform each 'S' most effectively and he's fairly convincing in arguing that unless each S is done properly, it won't work. There's a useful summary at the end of each section and then a rounding-up section on 'the cuddle cure' - how to combine all the Ss for a blissfully happy, sleeping baby.
So does it work? In a word: probably. I'm glad to say that we didn't have a full-blown colic case to try it out on, but number two was very cranky in the evenings and only 'karping' him, as we called it, would settle him.
The book was full of really useful snippets of information, e.g. that very upset babies do not like being put down on their backs. Ever. And there's a very detailed diagram on how to swaddle that really did - as promised - double the time our baby slept for at night, from 3 to 6 hours. And there's a substantial section about possible medical problems that could also be causing the ceaseless crying. I really needed this during the first five tortured months of parenting. It would have put my mind at rest far more than the pediatrician's "oh, she'll just grow out of it" ever did.
But it's far from a perfect book. It's only likely to work for newborns. It's over-long - especially for exhausted, demoralised parents - and the constant references to 'cavewoman' and 'cavebaby' are somewhere between irritating and patronising. And the technique is physically hard work. Our monster baby outgrew our strength before he outgrew the colicky evenings.
But most importantly, this book will help desperate parents to empathise with their screaming bundle of 'joy'. By feeling less frustrated by the situation, you can feel more control and so start repairing your shredded self-confidence. That's worth the price alone.
Book Review: Absolutely THE BEST book for Newborns
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was extremely helpful. I skipped the 1st half of the book andwent straight to the 5 S's. I found the techniques so easy and the bookwas a pleasure to read. My baby responded so well to the techniques thatshe hardly ever cried, and she started sleeping through the night by thetime she was 3 weeks old. I shared these techniques with all of myfriends with newborns. I have found that no baby can resist a goodswaddle combined with a bit of a jiggle. It always takes less than 10seconds to stop the crying. It's truely amazing. My friends are all soshocked and thankful when I show them the techniques on their own babies.If you don't get any other book, get this one. It's a life saver and itreally gives your baby everything she needs to transition from womb toroom and truely be the happiest baby on the block.
Book Review: The five S's - lifesavers!
Summary: 4 Stars
We found this book extremely useful. When we first brought our baby home he was extremely fussy and we had no idea how do stop him crying. Some friends got us this book and the 5 S's instantly worked. The book was simple to follow and you didn't need to read the whole book to get the information that you needed. (I have found with some books that you need to read the whole thing, which isn't very helpful when you are new parent and have no time for reading!).
My only concern is that I think it is going to be difficult to get our baby off a couple of the S's. I don't think that there was enough information on how to wean the baby off the S's. Although Dr. Karp does explain how to wean them off, I would have like to have more detail, explaining what to expect, how long it should take etc.
On the whole though, it is a great book and very helpful.