Whatcha Reading? Book Review: The Happiest Baby on the Block

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp is a book that all new parents should read. What should you do when your baby won't stop crying? Dr. Karp has a plan. It's a simple plan too.

His strategy is called the 5 S's. The 5 S's are: swaddling, shushing, side or stomach position, sucking, swinging.

These five technique work amazingly well when used together. At first your baby may appear to not like the swaddling but once you use the other techniques Dr. Karp is right when he says that it "calms colic crying babies in minutes or less."

When my husband and I found out that our first child was on the way we didn't have a clue what to do so we started reading a few parenting books. The Happiest Baby on the Block was recommended to us by my brother and sister-in-law. After our daughter was born we used the 5 S's religiously with her. She was a great sleeper. She slept through the night at 5 weeks and took nice long naps during the day.

We followed Dr. Karp's advice again with baby #2 and now I've just re-read the book again to help with baby #3. Our own little case studies support Dr. Karp's findings. The 5 S's have worked with all three of my babies.

So for any new parents out there - check out this helpful book with great practical advice. Dr. Karp also wrote a follow up book, The Happiest Toddler on the Block which helps deal with what he calls "little cavemen" and the tantrums that come with the terrible two's.

To find out more about The Happiest Baby on the Block and Dr. Karp's other books, click here to see his website.