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
 21 out of 39 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!!


The worst book on the shelves   March 13, 2008
 20 out of 31 found this review helpful

Let me save you some money and disclose the amazing secret of Dr. Karp's technique right here and now: swaddle your baby, put your baby on its side/stomach (but never let the baby sleep on its side/stomach), shush the baby, swing the baby, stick the pacifier into your baby's mouth, all in this strict order -- and presto! You are done. Does one really need 267 pages in order to recite this? Dr. Karp feels he does, or at least his wallet tells him so.

What a horror. First of all, there is enough information in this book to fill a 5-page brochure at the most, 10 if you would like to be generous. The rest if fluff, empty fill, incessant repetition, inane pictures, unnecessary and insulting stories about "primitive" people and Dr. Karp's own patients (see more below on that).

Second -- the language. That Harvey Karp has a God Complex is evident from page 1; the reason for that is still a mystery to me. Well, I do admit that to write a fairly long book about nothing, and to make a lot of money by publishing and successfully marketing this book (and now, heavens help me, I see there is a DVD out) -- that does take a particular kind of cunning and intelligence. To solicit at least a couple of good reviews from accredited pediatricians also must have taken some work. But does it really justify the language of fantastic condescension that Harvey Karp uses throughout his book? One imagines the world full of lobotomized idiots unable to read a complex sentence, but popping out babies as if there is no tomorrow; and yet, I bet that even a semi-literate teenage mom of five would still find this book incredibly patronizing. Repetition -- ostensibly to help the new parents remember the simple truths, but clearly used to a) make the reader feel stupid, and b) fill more pages of the book -- are sure to drive anyone halfway intelligent absolutely insane.

Finally, let us return to the "primitive" people. You think Dr. Karp consecends to you? Wait till you read stories about backward cultures, and, still worse, about Harvey Karp's own patients who hail from such far-away places as Russia! Let's take a look at page 109, and read a heart-warming story about Karp's patient who emigrated from Russia to Los Angeles. A confused foreign moron that she is, she is having trouble understanding the wonderful doctor, struggling to make sense of his words of wisdom. But then, when the doctor shows her how to swaddle her baby, she erupts in a wonderful monologue, whereupon we learn that in her village, mothers swaddle their kids and put belts around them -- yet another piece of ancient primitive folk wisdom that we in America forgot! The most insulting thing is that the young woman's accent is actually replicated in the book, and the offending words are underscored -- lest you decide that it is Dr. Karp who cannot spell "village." Interestingly enough, Karp chooses very carefully whose accent or manner of speaking he dares to replicate: for some reason, not a single Ebonics phrase is transcribed in the book -- perhaps because Karp doesn't accept African-American patients, or perhaps because he is smart enough not to insult them. But Russians are a fair game (there are others). If his patient, named Elena (of course -- isn't every Russian?), even exists, she ought to be rather angry; but I doubt she is real. Russian villagers rarely find themselves consulting UCLA pediatricians -- not to mention that the accent rendered by Karp is utterly wrong. Russian alphabet doesn't have the letter "w" -- therefore, the lucky Karp-treated villager would be replacing "when" with "ven", and not "village" with "willage."

I am not sure whether Dr. Karp still has a title of assistant professor at UCLA because he is a practicing pediatrician, and cannot therefore go up for tenure, or because he hasn't come up for tenure yet. I hope the latter is the case: this book alone is an ample reason why the said tenure should be denied.

If you must, go to the library and photocopy pages 94-99; you will learn nothing new (any pediatrician is likely to give you the same advice), but you will have a handy reference on Karp's methods. These 5 pages are still full of fluff, but they will cost you close to nothing.


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.


Great for newborns   August 22, 2002
 18 out of 21 found this review helpful

Well, Dr. Karp's methods have worked well on my newborn, and I stress newborn. He presents some interesting facts about other cultures where crying babies are rare and colic doesn't exist. These cultures mostly have their babies at their sides in a sling, and unlimited access to suckle at mother's breast. With baby in a snug sling, constant body contact, the feeling of constant motion and breast milk access, Dr. Karp states this mimcs conditions in the womb: tight fit, constant movement, and lack of hunger from being fed via the umbilical cord while in utero. He goes on to say that months 0-3 of baby's life are the missing "fourth trimester", hence his methods of the following 5 S's work well since they imitate the womb environment.

The 5 S's are as follows:
1. Swaddle - he describes and illustrates an excellent swaddle technique, the tighter, the more womb-like
2. Side / Stomach - laying baby on side or stomach. He reiterates that when laying baby on stomach, baby should NEVER be left unattended. Positioning in this way is most comfortable for baby, when he's on his back, he has the sensation of free-falling, and thus feeling insecure.
3. Shush - baby was used to hearing your blood flow for those 9 months, so a loud shushing will calm baby down. Ever notice how he quiets when you turn on the vacuum? I've used a white noise machine, all the loud shushing got me blue in the face and most nearly passed out!
4. Swinging - rhythmic, jiggling motion. You don't necessarily have to use a swing for this one. He describes the motion as being a very nervous person holding a baby. You use very tiny shaky movements, movements must be tiny, other wise shaking baby with long, hard jerks may result in shaken baby syndrome. This movement imitates the constant movement he felt while in-utero.
5. Suck - sucking on a pacifier, nipple, your finger, etc...

These 5 S's will initiate the calming reflex when done in that order and in the correct way. We've all used those methods to try to calm baby, but we've likely used them as separate entities. Much like the knee-jerk reflex works only when your doctor hits your knee at the exact location, the calming reflex works only when the S's are done in an exact manner. He describes in detail how to do this.

So far it's worked for my daughter. My huge concern is, what happens after she passes her three month mark? Dr. Karp states that after three months, baby will start self-calming and will rely on the 5 S's less and less. Judging by all the "How to Get Your Baby to Calm and to Sleep" books out there, I have my doubts. He does well in calming a newborn, but beyond the newborn stage, he offers very little. He really needs to consider changing the title to "The Happiest Newborn on the Block" to better reflect the content of the book. So if your baby is less than three months, this may work for you, if your baby is older, look elsewhere.