Rating: 
Summary: Best Self-Help Book on Understanding Babies
Review: I came across the book when I was pregnant. All I can say is, I have read many books on child care and when my baby was born, I pretty much toss out all the books I read except for this one. I would not know how I would survive if I did not know Dr. Karp's techniques. For all new mothers out there, this book is a godsend. Thanks, Dr. Karp!
Rating:
Summary: A lifesaver - and your baby will not get "hooked"
Review: When our first daughter was born, she had reflux and slept extremely poorly. I read a whole bunch of different baby-care books, each with differing views. Who was I to believe? I was at my wit's end. I just wasn't sure about Karp's methodology. No one I knew had used his methods, and they seemed so strange. I was worried that Dr. Karp's methods would coddle the baby too much, and that she would get "hooked" on the 5 S's. But I was desperate, so I decided to trust Karp completely and use his methods. Thank heavens I did! It saved us in those first few months. I worried endlessly about her sleeping in a swing until she was 3 months old. Would she develop neck problems? Would she have to sleep in a swing until she went to college? No, she's just fine. Just as Karp predicted, we were able to wean her off of it gradually by 4 months. Reflux caused major problems for her, so we had to swaddle her until she was 6 months old (the key: get a BIG square blanket, and swaddle very tightly). I worried that swaddling her would slow her development. It didn't. In fact, it HELPED her development because she could finally sleep. Karp's methods stopped working when she was about 6 months old, but by that age we could feel comfortable using Jodi Mindell's sleep training methods to teach her to comfort herself. Now she's 10-months old, she sleeps through the night (as she has since she was about 4 or 5 months old), and she's right on track developmentally. In fact, my daughter is LITERALLY known at her daycare center as the happiest baby in her class! Trust Dr. Karp. He knows babies. He respects babies. His methods are a bit unorthodox, but they work. Besides, it's only for a few months. You and your baby will both be happier for it!
Rating:
Summary: Grandma
Review: For all mothers-to-be - memorize it. And for all new mothers - always have it by your side. I wish I knew such valuable information with my 4 babies. I just spent 1 week with my 1 month old granddaughter who was diagnosed with "3-month colic" and this book cured her in one day.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful tool for New Parents
Review: This book is easy to read and the techniques, though not "new", definitely work to help keep babies happy and parents sane! I think Dr. Karp's techniques will be a God-send to new parents everywhere! I am a doula, childbirth educator, mother of four married "children" and grandmother of 4 (with another on the way!!) I've already told one couple about the techniques. Now I can't wait to pass along the info to doula clients and the couples in my classes!
Rating: 
Summary: Not good for sleeping
Review: This book is really good for calming a crying baby, but not very useful for sleeping--our baby (now 3 1/2 months) cried when we put her down to sleep even when we used the 5 Ss, until she was about 2 months old and had learned to calm herself. I also found his reasoning regarding the "fourth trimester" a little ridiculous so as to be disregarded. I didn't like his seeming praise of tribal cultures where women breastfeed 100 times a day or babies are continually held 24 hours a day for the first year--that might be what babies want, but that is a completely unrealistic, and dare I say unhealthy, expectation for new parents.
Rating:
Summary: the happiest mom on the block
Review: highly recommended the 5s's truly work if your baby cry's throughout the day or night you'll be willing to try anything. TRY THIS you will be happy you did.
Rating:
Summary: PERFECT solution for crying babies!!!!
Review: This book gives you a truly magical technique for stopping your little baby's crying. Nothing weird or earth-shattering here - just a beautiful combination of baby-soothing techniques brought together in a pattern that works to stop crying. By using a certain pattern of swaddling, rocking and voice you can help bring your baby "back to the womb" and create a secure feeling that stops fussy crying. Also recommended: Gentle Baby Care by Elizabeth Pantley with a foreword by Dr Karp.
Rating:
Summary: Last baby book I'll buy for a long time
Review: Although our son was not colicky, he was a loud sleeper. He thrashed and kicked and woke himself up 3 or 4 times a night. He was so loud we had to put him in his own room long before we were ready to. I read Dr. Karp's book in one evening and started using the 5 s's that same night. What a change! The very first night, although he kicked and screamed about being swaddled, he fell asleep quickly and slept FIVE hours straight (at four weeks old)!! Since then, we have been swaddling our son every night and for his long nap in the daytime. Most of the time, only 2 or 3 of the s's are needed to put our son to sleep. We even can put him to bed mildly awake and he goes to sleep on his own. Dr. Karp's book is easy to read, easy to use, and absolutely the truth. My North African husband had tried to convince me to use the very same techniques Dr. Karp espouses in his book from the time we came home from the hospital. I thought my husband was nutso to want to keep swaddling the baby... I eat my words!
Rating:
Summary: It really works
Review: I am a new mom and wasn't sure what to do when my 3 week old turned into a fussy, upset baby during the day some and especially at night. My husband joked about where did our calm baby go? I tried gas drops, colic tablets, just holding her when she cried, vacuums, dryers - nothing really helped completely, just here and there except in the evenings. At about 5 weeks, a friend mentioned how she does the 5 S's or the "cuddle" with the Happiest Baby on the Block book and uses the Miracle Blanket to swaddle her baby. So I got the blanket (awesome also) and the book. Read it cover to cover in a few days while feeding my baby and tried it out and it worked! I don't need it as often as I used to, but I do it anywhere and anytime, restaurants, home, evenings, to get her to fall asleep and it does it! I hold her heartbeat to heartbeat with her on her side and it is nice for me and her so I can shhh her in her ear and be close. Thank you Dr. Karp - I recommend this to everyone as you feel like you are helping your baby. She actually smiles at me now when I swaddle her as she knows what is coming.
Rating:
Summary: Brillant ideas for newborns
Review: There's nothing quite like Dr Karp's ideas for calming a fussy newborn baby. Lots of his points are common-sense -- swaddle, hold and nurse your baby. But the way in which he puts these together creates the magic. This book can save your life if your baby has colic. Once your baby passes the newborn stage I'd look to one he coauthored called Gentle Baby Care.
| 
