DVD Review: The Happiest Baby on the Block

I recently borrowed this DVD from a local libary after hearing so much about it. The author, Harvey Karp, M.D, is an American pediatrician and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine. His two books, The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block, have been bestsellers since early 2000 and used many times as references in calming infants and babies. The DVD is pretty much the nutshell version of the book.

In the beginning of the DVD, Dr. Karp explains that human babies are born less developed than other mammals. He gives an example of a baby horse that pretty much can walk and run within the few hours of its birth. But for human, the limited condition of the mother's womb doesn't permit baby to develop longer inside, thus "forcing" the baby to be delivered "early". That's why he calls that the first three months of infant life as "the fourth trimester". This theory is supporting his belief that during this fourth trimester, infant still needs to adjust to the life outside of the womb and simulating the womb experience can provide him/her calm and soothing feeling.

He also believes that, in addition to other reflexes (sucking, for example), babies are born with a calming reflex, an instinct, when triggered, that instantly calms babies and tells them them that they're safe. However, not every parent knows how to trigger this reflex and babies can not do it by themselves.

His book (and DVD) provides five methods (the five S's) that can be used individually or combined to trigger this calming reflex on fussy babies (on colicky babies too) :

1. Swaddling: tight swaddling recreates the confinement of the womb


2. Side/Stomach position: holding the baby on the stomach face down (slightly angled)


3. Shushing: uses a loud "ssh" sound similar to the loud white noise that is present in the womb
   
4. Swinging (and jiggling): gentle but constant jiggling (especially of the head) is intended to remind babies of the constant motion they experienced in the womb. Dr. Karp also says we can use swingers


5. Sucking: Dr. Karp recommends the use of pacifiers or thumb sucking

Two things that Dr. Karp emphasizes:

• Don't leave babies sleeping on their stomach/face-down unattended (risk of SIDS - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)


• Jiggling/swinging is NOT the same as shaking. Jiggling is a small, fast movement, almost like vibrations. Never shakes babies!

Does it work?

Well, since my baby is not born yet, I can not test and vouch for these techniques myself. I asked one of my friends who applied them to her baby, she said they worked, but not all the times. The prenatal class at Huntington hospital in Pasadena also teaches Dr. Karp's five S's techniques to calm babies.

My personal opinion is, the five S's makes sense. In fact, this is not entirely a new concept. For centuries, mothers all over the world have used them to calm their babies. I came from South East Asia and I remembered seeing mothers there used some or all of Dr. Karp's techniques, provided they had never read his books, seen his videos or had any "formal" childcare classes. They learned from their mothers or grandmothers by experience. I guess, it is natural and proven work for generations. But sometimes, babies are just fussy, regardless. That's when a little extra TLC and patience (and another set of hands) helps a lot.

Recommended!

What do you think? Do you have any successful / not-s0-successful experience with this?
I'd love to hear from you!