Saturday, November 12, 2011

Happiest Baby on the Block

[here]

Last night Matt and I watched an informative DVD " Happiest Baby on the Block." This book is recommended everywhere, which we will be buying soon. But we also got the good advice from fellow blogger-mom Claudia, to get the DVD version. Turns out my library had it...and it is fantastic! We thought he (Dr. Harvey Karp) was a little hokey and it feels like it was made in the 90's, but after we started to watch his method of the 5 "S's" Oh my. Magic. We were entranced. We wanted to have our little fussy spud right there in our arms to try it out for reals.

The 5 S's:
1. swaddling
2. shushing (which in reality is a VERY loud shushing, borderline irritating)/ white noise
3. side or stomach lying
4. swinging/ vibrating (weird jiggling thing you have to see on the video excerpt below!)
5. sucking (nursing, bottle, finger, pacifier)



The theory is that each fussy baby will be different, but they all will respond to 1-5 of the above. The 5 S's simulate what life was like for the little babe in utero for the first 9 months of life. Sometimes all it takes is just swaddle and shushing, and sometimes it's all 5 at once. Has anyone tried this method?! Does it work in real life?

4 comments:

  1. We never watched the video but I knew what the 5 s's were and it does work! When the boys we younger and got fussy the swaddle and pacifier were all we needed to do and sometimes just a swaddle did the trick. Now that they are bigger our swings are our lifesavers!!!! Buy a swing, one that will either swing side to side or front to back. I think they make one now you can plug into the wall. Ours are battery operated and we going through batteries quite often. But it is worth it! When they are fussy and we can't get them to settle I get them all snuggled in the swing with a cozy blanket and a pacifier and within 10-15 minutes they are sound asleep!! They are actually in their swings right now. At times I have to replace their pacifiers several times, but it works, I have learned to use the blanket to hold in the pacifier :) you will learn all the tricks that work for your little one, but in short yes his 5 S's work :)

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  2. ooo that sounds like an interesting read... off to chapters I go :) seriously I get the best ideas fro myou!

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  3. It does work! The swaddling never worked on Alice but each baby is different. The shushing is awesome...AWESOME :)

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  4. oh, thats awesome to hear that it works! a swing....gosh i wish we could fit one in our house. i am thinking a bouncy chair thing for when i am in the shower and such might have to suffice.

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