After hearing several people refer to "The Happiest Baby on the Block" books and dvds as a necessity, I finally decided to look into it. I was definitely a skeptic; I am not sure why. I suppose I just feel reticent to ideas that people say will work "across the board."
But now that I have tried it, I am a believer!
First, Dr. Harvey Karp has 5 S's to success in calming any baby down who is crying/screaming. In this video, he does explain that if the baby is really in pain this won't work. But the thing is babies often cry like they are in pain. So, it can be hard to tell sometimes what the reason for the baby's crying is. Gordon Lee loves to let his annoyances with life be known. ;) He cries when he has to poop, he cries when he is not near mommy, he cries when hungry, wet, you name it, he gets upset. So, it's even trickier figuring out with him what the purpose of his crying is.
Dr. Karp's 5 S's are
1.) Swaddle
2.) Side/Stomach position
3.) Shushing
4.) Swinging
5.) Sucking
As I said, I was a skeptic, so I decided to look for a "sample" of this dvd on youtube. I came across the following video where he is seen at work with babies and explaining his concepts. It is very interesting!
But now that I have tried it, I am a believer!
First, Dr. Harvey Karp has 5 S's to success in calming any baby down who is crying/screaming. In this video, he does explain that if the baby is really in pain this won't work. But the thing is babies often cry like they are in pain. So, it can be hard to tell sometimes what the reason for the baby's crying is. Gordon Lee loves to let his annoyances with life be known. ;) He cries when he has to poop, he cries when he is not near mommy, he cries when hungry, wet, you name it, he gets upset. So, it's even trickier figuring out with him what the purpose of his crying is.
Dr. Karp's 5 S's are
1.) Swaddle
2.) Side/Stomach position
3.) Shushing
4.) Swinging
5.) Sucking
As I said, I was a skeptic, so I decided to look for a "sample" of this dvd on youtube. I came across the following video where he is seen at work with babies and explaining his concepts. It is very interesting!
Literally, just a few minutes after I finished watching this video, I heard Gordon Lee starting to work up to a fit in his crib after napping for only 30 minutes. Wanting to test out the theory, I followed the 5 S's and INCREDIBLY he was calm in under 1 minute!
Don't believe me? Here's the proof!
He has been like this for an hour now.
Previously, I would have swaddled him, rocked him a little until he started to calm down some, place him back in his crib only to have him burst out of the swaddle and start up again. Or, he'd be sucking at his fists, nurse, want to nurse some more, and still stay awake.
This time, I went in, swaddled him (as I normally had before), turned him on his side in my arm, swung him gently just like in the video, while shushing near his ear, and he was calm instantly. I offered him his soothie to suck on, but he didn't even want or need it. He was right back to sleep and has stayed that way.
I cannot even explain how many other methods of soothing I have tried only to find this one work quickly and continue working! Everything else that calms him down initially becomes ineffective a few minutes later. But, as he said, all of these things are common. It is just the order and the way they are done that make the difference. I certainly agree now. I will keep trying these things and I may be tempted to check out his book or dvd.
This is amazing. I wonder how this guy figured it out.
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