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The Happiest Baby on the Block
by Harvey Karp, M.D.
The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer
Dr. Harvey Karp quickly became America’s favorite pediatrician after the release of this national bestseller, a manual written to help parents solve one of the most potentially terrifying problems: how to soothe the crying newborn. Karp, a long time pediatrician who has traveled the world in his quest to study how different cultures tend to their infants, offers sound advice and techniques to help parents soothe even the most fussy infant. The author lends his decades of practice in the field of modern medicine, worldly knowledge, and sensitivity towards the newborn’s needs, to solving the mystery of infant needs and colicky babies.
Karp uses techniques to recreate the womb-like experience for the newborn during the first three months of life, a phase that he labels, “the fourth trimester.” During this phase, the newborn’s nervous system is not yet as developed as other mammals’ nervous systems at birth, due to humans’ evolutionary need to give birth earlier than most mammals. Thus, the human newborn needs special soothing with a set of techniques that mimic the womb environment, which Karp labels the “5 S’s.” Swaddling, swinging, stomach, “sh-shing,” sucking are the magic approaches that will elicit the “calming reflex,” which is the “off switch” with which all babies are born.
Karp is a kind, empathic, and encouraging writer who offers techniques that actually work. His worldly knowledge has offered the new parent the answers that elude most pediatricians. In his quest to soothe infants, he ironically winds up soothing the parent as well, and many will reap similar rewards from his sequel, The Happiest Toddler on the Block (see review).
Title: The Happiest Baby on the Block
Author: Harvey Karp, M.D.
Publisher: Bantam Dell
ISBN: 9780553588729
Review written by: Lisa Benton, MA, Psy.D.
Reviewer's Rating:9
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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