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Happiest Baby on the Block
I met the author of The Happiest Baby and Happiest Toddler on the Block books yesterday. Harvey Karp was in Durham yesterday to help kick off the 20th anniversary of Welcome Baby, a group that supports parents with kids ages 0 to 5 in Durham.
He offered me a couple tips for my own 3-year-old which I think I might try. He said practice breathing exercises with her - just sitting and breathing in and out to calm her down. I just tried it with her moments ago and she refused to do it - but she also was meowing like a cat. I'll give it another try.
I'm also intrigued by his methods in his Happiest Toddler book. He basically recommends communicating with toddlers (ages nine months to four or five) at their level - caveman.
Anybody tried either of his books?
Comments
I read Happiest Baby on the BLock when I was desperate to get my 6 month old to sleep at night. Unfortunately, I bought it before I realized that most of the info was geared towards 0 - 3 month olds. If I remeber correctly, it focused on how to calm a fussy baby and his "discovery" that the reason so many newborns have collic is because there should be a 4th trimester. He emphasized the importance of swaddling, sucking, shhhing, and rocking a fussy infant all at the same time. I wish I had read that when my daughter was still under 3 months because I'd imagine its a useful tool for calming and soothing.
When I bought the book, I was so exausted and at my wits end because my daughter was having major sleep issues. I read it from front to back hoping for some answers that I didn't get. However, I would still be interested in hearing if anyone read the Toddler book and found it useful. I think its helpful to read as much as we can and to pick and choose a little bit from each book that might work for us. I do admit that it can be quite confusing when different experts have completely conflicting opinions on so many topics.