AnyHOO! As in my previous post with The Terrible Blues, Twos, I wrote about how difficult it can be as a parent to tend to your toddler and his or her many tantrums. What if I told you that you could maybe cure the tantrums...or at least subside them for a minute?? Now I got your attention, right??! Well let me tell you! Before Drake was born, Cory and I wanted to make sure we were well educated on how to parent our child, especially once we brought the little bundle of joy home! Pretty much everyone told us that we would be losing much sleep and sporting dark circles around our eyes! Of course after being traumatized with some heavy information we were determined to beat the streak! We researched online and I asked around for advice on how to prevent losing sleep with a crying newborn. I got the one answer that saved us! Yes, I said it! When we went on our first hospital tour they spoke to us about ways to soothe your newborn and showed us a video called Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp.
(Dr. Harvey Karp is a nationally renowned pediatrician, child development specialist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the USC School of Medicine.) He talks about how every baby has a reflex and how there is an on and off switch to get them to stop crying. He also teaches about the 5 S's:
Swaddling: Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support your baby is used to experiencing within the womb.
Side/stomach position: The infant is placed on their left side to assist in digestion, or on their stomach to provide reassuring support. “But never use the stomach position for putting your baby to sleep,” cautions Karp. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is linked to stomach-down sleep positions. When a baby is in a stomach down position do not leave them even for a moment.
Shushing sounds: These imitate the continual whooshing sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb.
Swinging: Newborns are used to the swinging motions within their mother’s womb, so entering the gravity driven world of the outside is like a sailor adapting to land after nine months at sea. “It’s disorienting and unnatural,” says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.
Sucking: “Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system,” notes Karp, “and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain.”
Check this video, below, to see what I'm talking about...
What do you think?? Yes, I know it's probably a little strange to you, or maybe you are in agreement with him? Please believe me when I say it works! I speak from experience! Drake slept through the entire night after week 2 of bringing him home! Yes! I said week 2!! I am not lying! I gave myself no sleep because I kept waking up just to see if he was still breathing. I was worried because he wasn't the "crying newborn" everyone spoke about! I am happy to say that I passed this dvd on to my friends who followed the steps and have spoke highly about this method, because it works! I encourage you mom's, aunties, and grandmas to try it out!
Now that Drake is in his terrible twos, Dr. Harvey Karp's new book Happiest Toddler on the Block is out! Now check out this video from his appearance on Dr. Phil, to see his method on how to stop your tantrum toddler! Maybe for some of you mom's, grandma's and aunties, this will help...check it out and let me know if it helped!...Adriana
I'm so thankful for this post!! I saw this book at the top of the parenting book list at Amazon.com and didn't see the appeal. Ben and I are trying for kids, so we were ecstatic to see these videos!
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