I am not convinced.

There is absolutley nothing in this book that is in any way a breakthrough in the area of baby care. Swaddling, swinging, shushing, sucking, and stomach positioning to calm a baby are all as old as the hills. Some of these have fallen in and out of fashion at one point or another, but none of these tips are so unique that they can't be found as helpful suggestions in other parenting guides or by asking older parents... (I can't even begin to count the number of times my mother or father has suggested I calm my extremely fussy baby by "Try putting him on his belly" or "Why don't you give him a binky?")

This book suffers from a number of flaws.

1. I can't even begin to say how irritated I am that the author claims to have found a "new" way to calm fussy babies.

2. This book would be nice as a PAMPHLET handed out at the hospital to new parents... it should NOT be a book. My original impression that this book is extremely repetitive was correct. It's not so much that none of these methods work, it's just that all can be explained very quickly. It does not take a full length book. Luckily, I read this book before my baby got here - any parent already dealing with a fussy or colicky baby would be at their wits end trying to read this entire book. (Therein lies the irony of childcare help books... those who need them the most don't have the time or ability to read them!!!)

3. The methods do NOT work for all babies and despite Karp's claim that colic does not even exist in some cultures due to parents using his methods... Colic does NOT always respond to these methods. Living with my baby was agony for the first few months. It didn't matter what I tried - days and evenings were horrible. Anyone who claims to have a cure for colic has clearly never really dealt with colic! What seemed to matter more to my baby was the clock... once 11pm hit, swaddled and nursed, he would sleep well at night. Between 6am and 11pm, though, it didn't matter WHAT I tried, he was fussy and needed to be held and nursed constantly. I could nolt put him down no matter what I tried. There was no magic "off switch," despite Karp's claims.

In short, this book was a waste of my time. Skim it in a bookstore if you wish, but do not spend your money.

In response to others claims that babies can become hooked on the methods in this book... I don't think this is a serious issue. We swaddled at night until my baby was big and strong enough to weasle his way out of his wrappings, no matter how many diaper pins I tried to fasten him with. Once he was too big to swaddle, he had no problems sleeping at night. (I mean, at 4 1/2 months he has yet to sleep through the night, but he sleeps no differently unswaddled than swaddled...)

Maybe some babies require the calming methods a little longer than others, but sooner or later they should all outgrow them... I hope!


Karp gives it a five star but... I don't!   March 24, 2006
 22 out of 38 found this review helpful

I read this book cover to cover, not knowing how to deal with my colicky baby. We tried everything and nothing worked. We saw Dr. Karp and he demonstrated his famous shooshing sound while pounding my then 6 month old baby's back real hard. My son looked at him like "what are you doing to me?" His suggestion at the end of our appointment was "Read my book and call me and tell me what you think, will ya? I need to know if I am brilliant or not." He also thought our son was 6 weeks old (normal healthy well-developed 6 month old!). My husband and I were shocked. We were so unimprssed by both Karp himself and the book! Besides there's nothing new in this book and is extremely poorly written!!


Wonderful for the first 3 months, but then the magic ends...   October 21, 2003
 20 out of 24 found this review helpful

Dr. Karp's book is extraordinary for dealing with newbornes and his advice is sound and such a relief for parents of a new baby. We followed his advice completely, and our baby never cried more than 5 minutes EVER. The problem is that he is now 3 months old and we still have to use Dr. Karp's methods to get him to sleep. We still have to swaddle him or else he won't sleep. The reason I did not give this book 5 stars is b/c Dr. Karp does not tell the reader how to ween their baby off his 5 Ss. He simply says they won't need them, but it is not true in our case. I am now disappointed b/c I think we will need to teach our son how to sleep unswaddled. Bottom line, it is a great book for the first 3 months, but remember the honeymoon is over after 3 months and you will eventually have to deal with unswaddling your baby.


Peace at last!   May 30, 2002
 18 out of 19 found this review helpful

Dr. Karp was a Godsend when we needed him most. His superb advice helped us calm our twin boys and enabled them and us to sleep. Up until reading his book, we had very fussy baby boys who would not sleep for prolonged periods of time. The first time we used the 5 S's, the boys slept 3 hours. Prior to that they would only sleep an hour at most because their gas pains would wake them up. It's obvious that Dr. Karp researched his methods and delivers a succinct method that can help all parents. Out of all the books that I've read, this one has made a significant difference in my childrens' lives and is a MUST HAVE!
Thank you Dr. Karp.