Is The Happiest Baby on the Block a miracle breakthrough in infant care, or just a gimmick - Page 2

[MrsSlocombe]

Originally Posted by flightgoddess 

I liked some of the ideas, like the fourth trimester. And some techniques worked for us. So go ahead and try them. If they don't work, they might never work, or they may work when you try them again in a few weeks/at a different developmental stage.

Swaddling helped our lil guy sleep longer. I also did white noise at night (we were by a busy street with lots of traffic, and his room was at the front.)  Only tradeoff, now that he's three, he's used to it, and does sleep better with it, even though we're in a different house on a dead end with no traffic. Not sure if I'll do it with the new baby.  Shushing and bouncing/rocking also helped when little.

I wondered about that!  A person does eventually need to try to sleep in situations without white noise, even if s/he plans to always own a machine.  There's travel, sleepovers, times when the electricity is out, etc.

[allisonrose]

I vote somewhere in between. I watched the DVD in the hospital after my first was born. (The hospital had a library of videos available through the TV.) I never read the book although I own it - it got misplaced in a move and I just recently found it. I did find that shhing was helpful - especially in the car where you just can't pick them up. Even if he did continue crying, I at least felt like I was doing something to soothe him and I didn't feel like I was just letting him CIO.

Different things work with different babies. It doesn't hurt to have a familiarity with the techniques in case they work with your infant.

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by hildare 

i agree with bokonon, but it didn't help us any, sadly.  nothing seemed to help the screaming for us but time.  and believe me, i tried everything.

Same here. Nothing would make DS1 the happiest baby on the block although slinging him and walking, walking, walking would turn down the volume. I didn't realize just how tough he was until I had his blessedly easier little brother.
Back to Karp, I like many of his techniques but I'm kind of off swaddling after reading some of the great research about the benefits of skin to skin contact. Wearing a newborn in a stretchy wrap against mom's bare chest is really the best of both worlds IMO.

[BabySmurf]

I agree with the PP's that the techniques are good to be familiar with...not just the techniques, but the reasons why those techniques work so that you can add your own spin to things.  I do think that Dr. Karp is really gimmicky though...he recommends using a lot of "things" to help out with the techniques (i.e. he says that a swing is better than letting a baby "get used to" sleeping on a parent (this one really got me), using a pacifier, etc).  I saw him speak, and was so turned off that I left the lecture half way through. 

I thumbed through the book when I was pregnant, and it didn't seem to be all that great, but once DS was born and I had some perspective I re read it, and found it immensely helpful. (I couldn't think of ways to calm DS down when I was so sleep deprived!) I "got" what he was describing in most cases, so I never watched the DVD, but if you have trouble visualizing the techniques, then I've heard that the DVD is great.  Or you can search for videos on you tube.

[Bokonon]

Oh, I agree that the techniques don't always work, and that babies sometimes just cry and need to cry.  My second was/is high needs, and I was at my wits' end even with the 5 S's - and I know that colic is a whole other nightmare.  But I think HBOTB is a great method for soothing and probably works for most babies at least some of the time.  Compare that to methods like Babywise that treat the baby like an inconvenience and in no uncertain terms blame the parent when the method isn't working.

At the very least, the 5 S's give a parent something to kill time while trying to get the baby to sleep.  ;)  

[Shaki]

Most useful for us was bouncing. We used that with DD and now use it with DS (6 months). Bouncing DS while in a mei tai and nursing works well most of the time. Worked for DD too. You can think of babywearing as a form of swaddling....

[~Adorkable~]

Originally Posted by kathrineg 

There is a worry about hip dysplasia with swaddling which is why I tend to swaddle the legs more loosely and feel better with swaddle mes (the leg area is more of a sac that lets them put their legs in a frog position.

this just reminded me, i found this amazing swaddle the other day while looking thru some other things, its too late for me, but I'm saving the link for my next babe, this looks like the best swaddle ever for a few reasons, not the least of which is the hip issue.

http://truewomb.com/

[RosemaryS-F]

Originally Posted by Bokonon 

I found the book invaluable and think it should be required reading for all new parents.  :)  I think it is wonderful because it offers explanations on why newborns cry and why the techniques work.  It is a great alternative to the pro-CIO camp.

Me, too. I can't believe I'd never heard of it. When my ds was newborn and beginning to be colicky (we think because of the abx used for strep b which killed the good bacteria in my birth canal and made his tummy off) some friends mentioned this book and just told us the principles. I checked it out, and instantly he (and we) found relief. If dd (just one week but also an abx birth) turns out to be similar, I'm all set.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by starling&diesel 

I love it.  Read the book with our first baby and have used the techniques ever since.  I totally swear by them.  Not a fan of his subsequent books though. I think his ideas around the "fourth trimester" are invaluable.

To each their own!

Yes. His writing style is bad. Just give us a bulleted list people, we've got a screaming baby.
 

Originally Posted by cat13 
The only one of the 5 S's that really works for us is white noise, especially the radio on a non-channel. =

I know! I even got DS his own little portable walkman radio and hooked it onto the Ergo. We called it his tunes. I would start the volume up higher but turn it down to barely a whisper after he stopped crying. He'd put his hand on his radio like some 80s boom boxer.

I did think that we'd never have a dinner undominated by static on the radio ever again though.
 

Originally Posted by MrsSlocombe 

I wondered about that!  A person does eventually need to try to sleep in situations without white noise, even if s/he plans to always own a machine.  There's travel, sleepovers, times when the electricity is out, etc.

I was so worried about DS being forever dependent on his static for sleep. I even used it to cover up the squeaking floor boards because if I tried to leave the room after he was asleep and he heard the floorboards, he'd wake right up. We were using a clock radio that eventually broke, and we didn't replace it. DS doesn't sleep with any noise now, and he hasn't for 2 years. He was 18 months.

We also swaddled him until the summer after he was 1, so around 15 months. It was just too hot and I figured he needed to get over that, and he was ready. Part of them letting go of their baby things is us letting go of them, too.

[mio2323]

I really liked the book and the techniques it taught.  When I had my first son, I had no idea that some babies didn't sleep or that comforting a newborn could be so intense.  I came from a place where you put a baby in their crib at night and then greeted them the next morning.

The idea of the fourth trimester helped me understand and make peace with my very fussy son.  The techniques worked for us, when nothing else did.  We spent a lot of time in the bathroom, with the fan on, running water, while shushing in his ear.  I learned to swaddle like a pro!

I feel like his ideas were a nice bridge between the CIO camp and the attachment camp.  As a new mom, I just had no idea you could be there for your baby like that. 

I never saw the DVD, and we did not buy any white noise CDs.  Someone gave us a white noise machine that we still use to this day.