Happiest Baby: Learn to calm crying fast...help your baby sleep longer!

Helped to calm my baby down

Yes, you may be a parent who ends up with a perfect, quiet, charming infant who sleeps through everything and coos when he/she is awake. Many of us aren't so lucky, though. And if you're in the latter group, you MUST get this book. (Better yet, get the dvd. Who has time to read with an infant? And mom, dad, even grandma, etc can watch at the same time.)There's no pretense here. No philosophizing. Karp explains simply that for many babies, they struggle through the "4th trimester" and need the extra comforts that you can give them. (This is not just preemies or kids who had trouble in the womb or getting delivered. Could be any baby. Any.) He tells you EXACTLY what to do and how to do it. And IT WORKS.Our son was an angel until we hit the 3-week mark. Then boom, suddenly he was crying whenever he wasn't sleeping or eating. Constant crying. Killing-every-last-nerve-at-the-top-of-his-lungs crying. After returning from my first trip to the store and finding my husband in pieces because my son had screamed for the whole 3 hours that I'd been gone, we remembered that someone had recommended that I buy the HBOTB dvd. In desperation, we pulled it out and watched. We shushed and swaddled and rocked the baby exactly as shown/explained.1) Again, it works...2) ...but it may take some time to get it right. The right angle to hold the baby. The right way to swaddle. (We used the Anais + Aden (or whatever they're called) gauze wraps but later, we also used the swaddle-me velcro types. Both work great.) The right shushing sound...3) ...which for us, turned out to be a hairdryer. Stunning. It worked so well that we put them in every room. I even packed one in the diaper bag from time to time. (I worry that I hurt his hearing or brain or something b/c we used it so often, but I figure that crying 16 hrs a day couldn't be healthy either.)4) And last thing: if you find yourself in the situation where these techniques are needed, Karp's book lets you know that no, you did not do anything wrong. You are not to blame, and you are not bad parents. The person who lucked out with the perfect infant angel is not a better mom or dad who is more capable than you. Simply, your baby needs the comfort and you have the ability to provide it. He gives you confidence and hope (which is hard to find when you're feeling so desperate for yourself and so sad and concerned for your child).IMO, this is a great thing to have even before you have a kid (whether it's your first or 14th) because the techniques can be used even for the perfect angels. But if you're reading this because you're at wit's end and wondering what you're doing wrong... this book/dvd is probably your answer.Good luck to those who are going through this. Our son grew out of it around the 4 mos mark and has been that perfect, nary-a-meltdown kid ever since. I often feel like it's earned having spent so many days and nights swaddled baby in one arm and hairdryer in the other. I have no idea how we would have gotten through those months without HBOTB. (p.s. posted the same for the book)

I read the 5s Technique several times. I tried them, I failed at them. I have a newborn daughter who will scream all day and all night, no matter what. I thought it was a bunch of crap. But every time I turn to someone for help, they would recommend this book, but I thought how can it be such a miracle if it does not work. I bought the digital copy and watched it online, so nothing about shipment and damaged discs affects this review.**Edit, I've had to use this several times now and the one time it did not work my child was actually sick with a bad cold and I had to add in things like a vaporizer to help soothe her**Apparently just reading about it is not good enough for me, I have to SEE it being done to know what to do. It's only been a week since I watched this so that's why my rating is still low, I'm a skeptic and I have to see more evidence for myself to know that it will work in the long term.I purchased the digital copy on a Friday and began the techniques over the weekend. It was probably the most calm weekend I've had with my daughter since her birth. However, there isn't much I can do for her when I have to set her down to do things like use the bathroom, eat, and prepare a bottle for her. She would still throw a fit, but they were short lived at least.Last night my daughter would not go to sleep, she hadn't slept the whole day and it looked like it was going to extend into the night, normally she's GREAT at going to sleep at night. No fever, no congestion, full belly, dry diaper, I burped her at least 7 times to make sure, I rocked, I sang, I made sure the room was just right, I did all the things I used to do to calm her down to go to sleep and she. was. NOT. having. it. As a last resort I used every technique shown in the video, I swaddled her, put her on her side, created the jiggling movement thing, and I had my white noise app playing the entire time. She was out in literally 30 seconds. 13 hours without so much as a nap and just 1/2 a minute with these techniques and she went out like a light and stayed asleep the rest of the night without so much as stirring. I was floored. *To clarify, I work while her grandmother watches her during the day. I drop her off early in the morning and she usually naps on and off during the day. She woke up from her morning nap and never went back to sleep. It wasn't me just letting her stay up all day not wanting to try the techniques*But I'm a HUGE skeptic, so if I have anymore events like last night in which I have to use these techniques to calm her again, I may alter my rating depending on the outcome.

For new parents, its great to have a system to calm down your baby. Recommend the DVD instead of the book. My husband wouldnt read a lot of books. Handed him the Dvd and he got all the info in 30 min.Used the speciall features for the womb sounds to help calm the baby.Played this when my baby was trying to sleep so that she could sleep in a noisy place.

I liked this. Dr Karp has a great manner and is easy to watch, you can believe he is a good doctor.. It is also nice to see real parents (complete with messy homes in the background!). I think the methods are really useful, and certainly go a long way to calming a crying baby, although they're obviously not always going to be the answer, eg when you're out and about with no means to swaddle baby. my daughter (5 weeks old) certainly likes the shushing and jiggling in particular. I liked that there was essentially no discussion of childcare theory (as in pushing either for AP or "cry it out" methods, since I've found that authors who prefer one or other method can be a bit hard to stomach in their zeal for it. Loved the FAQ section at the end also. All in all a good buy, and should be compatible with your personal parenting theories.

I bought this. My baby still Cries. In all seriousness it’s perhaps nice to be reminded of some ideas to soothe baby but not worth watching a DVD about it!

This is really excellent - and if you have a newborn, watching a 30 minute dvd is way easier than sitting down with a book (though his book is very useful). The 5 S technique is a lifesaver. Our daughter was NOT a good sleeper at all, but swaddling, shushing and jiggling worked very well for her.

received the production good working condition. Highy recommended to mothers to be. Reliable seller. Excellent product.Very easy to understand and content is concise ...in my opinion this should be taught in prenatal class for parents..