Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Melinda Blau, Tracy Hogg (2002)

Background:
This books came highly recommended by our neigbors who had a daughter 10 days after ours. Given the high accolades and best seller status, we thought this book would be a sure winner and help us get our daughter to sleep better and reduce her crying.

Book Summary:
The "Baby Whisperer" method is to put your baby on a structured "schedule", to help them establish a predictable rythm of sleeping and eating that can help the parents also get some predictability for eating (and hopefully sleeping).

The process to get your baby on this system according to the book, takes 3 days, which involve picking up the baby when it cries and then as soon as it stops, putting the baby back down immediately, and NOT soothing the baby with rocking or other methods.

Did it work?:
While the Baby Whisperer method seems to have worked wonderfully for our neighbor's baby, it was a complete disaster for us and our baby. Our baby cried for 3 days straight as we tried to get her onto this sytem, which also meant that mom was crying for 3 days straight. NOT GOOD! (No fun for the entire family.) Even our pets were upset with all the crying in the house!

We consulted our pediatrician, who said that babies under 3 months do not have the cognative ability to be put on a schedule as their actions are driven more by their immediate needs for hunger, sleep, diaper changes, and desire for a sense of security through affection/cuddling/rocking/soothing with mom and dad. Our pediatrician recommended we try the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" (eBay Search: http://search.ebay.com//search/search.dll?&satitle=Happiest+Baby+Block ). We did so and found that this "Happiest Baby on the Block" book by Dr. Harvey Karp M.D. was much more aligned with our personal parenting style and our baby immediately was much happier and essentially has not cried at all in the 5+ months since.

Our Advice:
If you do try the methods suggested in "The Baby Whisperer", use your common sense and figure out if it is working or not for your baby. If not, I suggest you buy the "Happiest Baby on the Block" book (ISBN 0553802550 hardcover and 0553381466 softcover) as that method worked wonders for us.

Every baby (and parenting style) is different and it seems each baby will gravitate towards the method that works best for them.

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Good stuff. shipped as promised. Good condition. good price. everything good. Dang 100 char min limit.

Very useful tips from a professional who has many years of experience and a lot of talent with babies.

A good guide for baby care. It is a little pedantic at times, and other times cute. Practical advice that is baby-centered with the sanity of parents in mind. I also really like everything by William and Martha Sears, like The Baby Book.

Several of my girlfriends are having children and have sworn by this book as their #1 resource. Now, I get it for everyone as the first baby shower gift.

i havent read the book yet so i dont know what to write. sorry. i decided to buy it because a friend read it and said it was good. but like i said i havent read it yet.

Good product, fast shiping. Condition as described. A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This book changed my life. Seriously. I read it when my first baby was 6 weeks old. I immediately gained order to my life. My baby was sleeping 10+ hours at 2 months. It helps you interpret cries and body language. I have a happy baby all the time. A lot of that is accredited to this book. I now give this as a gift to all of my expecting girlfriends.

Enjoy!


Oh, you won't need to start "using" it until about 3 weeks old

I loved this book. I bought the book because I have a new baby at home. I also have a 2 year old and I found the information very helpful. Some of the book is common sense, but still things that I had not thought of. My 3 month old has been sleeping through the night for three weeks - something my 2 year old still does not do! I have recently purchased the follow up book for toddlers and I cannot wait to read it and submit my review. This is a must have for all mothers!

I bought this book for a friend who was having a baby. Before I wrapped it, I started reading it and soon found that I couldn't put it down. It offers clear, concise, and encouraging advice for new moms and dads, and the author's writing style is warm and friendly. After taking more time to read through it further, I didn't want to give it away! This one will be at the top of my list when it's my turn to bring home a little bundle...

This is a great book if you have a new baby and need some advice. The book was exactly as described and the shipping was fast! I would buy from this seller again.

This book was recommended to me by a couple of friends. It was very easy to read and I was quickly captured by the prospect of an EASY method to connect with and calm my 3.5 month old baby. I was not, however, very happy with the results of trying to implement this EASY method, especially getting to the Y (time for yourself) part. Perhaps if I had someone to come live in my house for awhile to help out or if I at least had family living closer or maybe if this were my only child and I wasn't trying to get a baby on a strict routine while keeping up with a toddler too...

While describing her EASY method though, Mrs. Hogg has some very useful tips for both breast and bottle feeding, activity time for babies, sleep solutions (just keep in mind your own personalities and that of your baby!), and suggestions for taking care of yourself. This book was also helpful in getting me to slow down a little and "listen" to what my baby was saying to me.

I think not all babies, or not all parents, are well suited for Ms. Hogg's EASY method outlined in this book, but I definitely recommend reading the book for the other information.

Approximately a month after I ordered this book, I still had not received it. I emailed the seller and was told they thought it had already shipped and sent it soon after that email.

As a nanny, the family I work for and I have used this for their 8 month old baby. So far, this has been working though it is not exactly smooth sailing after 3 days but he doesn't cry as soon as he is put down anymore. Not every child can be fixed with a book or a 3 day program, but the principles in this book aid parents who have developed "bad" habits when it comes to helping their infant to sleep.