Happiest Baby On The Block

A classic to help any new mother settle their newborn in minutes. I have seen new postpartum moms on day 3 of their feeling overwhelmed and thinking their baby didn't like them. These tips were a life saver for them. I give this DVD to every new mom I can. It helps to see the tips with all the various different babies. I'm a midwife more than 30 years.

The DVD saved our life when our infant had colic. It’s very insightful about why infants do the things they do and how you can help them. I felt like a baby expert after watching this video.

My brother used these techniques with my neice when she arrived last year. Watching, I became annoyed at how tightly he swaddled her and how loudly he "shushed" in her ear. But her reaction was amazing! She suddenly became quiet with her eyes as big as saucers, completely calmed. My husband and I just purchased the DVD ourselves and watched it last night, and we could hardly believe how baby after baby after baby was calmed using the 5S's. Our baby is due next month, and we are anxious to use the techniques we learned in the video. I have three friends who are pregnant now, and I will be purchasing this DVD as shower gifts. This was a great find, and I highly recommend it!*********UPDATEWell, we now know first-hand that the techniques work! Our baby had her personal fussy time (not colic) every evening, and the ONLY thing that calmed her was the blend of the Happiest Baby techniques. She wasn't a big swaddle fan, but it helped her sleep. The shushing and side holding were instant calmers when she had her meltdowns in the evening, and the shushing alone would calm her on car rides. You MUST buy this DVD if you are expecting! The book is great, too!

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.

My husband and I watched a good potion of this video in Lamaze class before my first child. The teacher swore by the techniques (also having been a midwife for many years) and what she emphasized was the precision with which Dr. Karp did the moves. It wasnt JUST bundling a baby-- it was bundling in a manner that tucks in all the limbs comfortabley, and securely so as you do these techniques it doesnt come apart and aggitate the baby. It's not JUST shhshing the baby...it's shushing the baby at a volume loud or soft enough to be heard over his own screams. It's not JUST turning the baby on the side -- it's turning the baby on its side, slightly tilted forward at such a precise angle that when you hit it, it's like someone flipped the switch and the baby is instantly quiet. My husband MASTERED there techniques with our first child and our entire family was in awe with how "amazingly" he calm the baby. He got the hang of it before I did! So we bought the video and share it will all our friends having babies. We used it with our second child too, and no surprise, it had the same brilliant effect. I wouldnt bother with the book, as seeing it on the video is what will allow youto replicate with precision. It really is that easy.

Oh, how I wish I had had this information thirty years ago! When first grandchild came along, children required me to watch the video to see how they were handling their baby who was 3 days old and I was there to help for two weeks. The methods are absolutely amazing, they work, baby is happy, parents are empowered in art of child care which is so new to them. Baby feels secure, content, and so do parents (grandparents). When my husband eventually came to visit, he, too, was amazed at how effective actions are introduced on the dvd, and was an immediate enthusiastic pupil. I will give this as a gift to EVERY new mom at all future baby showers! Don't be obtuse or resistant, it's all practical methods that I think come from various cultures and presented as relevant for today. I NEVER write reviews, but this is just the most fabulous information for new parents for the trying times with new babies, I give it the highest recommendation!

I had heard about the happiest baby on the block, read the reviews and wanted to see it. I also wanted to sleep and thought I didn't have time for an hour long video (really only 30 mins)- boy was I wrong!! Good thing I got a sinus infection when I was supposed to return to work. I had my sister watch the baby while I recovered at my mom's. In between sleep, I watched the video and it was magical... not wait... MAGICAL!!! My sister did okay with the baby but she was very fussy for her. And I will put in a disclaimer here, we already had a happy baby, but there is always room for improvement to make her "happier" or in this case, the Happiest baby on the block! I had my sister watch the video and a miracle happened, my daughter was over taken by the HBOTB spell! First off, the hospital taught us a three step swaddle- we were missing that precious forth step which helped our little Houdini stay IN the swaddle. We had been using the Aden & Anais Swaddlers- which rock. I tried EVERY swaddling device on the market and hands down these and the Miracle Blankets are the BEST for our LO. Then the Shushing - which I would have never thought to do so loud. I was doing this before the video but not as loud - what a difference to project the SHUSHing sound!! Then came the jiggling, the side positioning -all just wonderful techniques that truly work!Don't wait 11 weeks like I did, watch this the first 30 minutes you get- and when you do, you WILL sleep longer. After we took the steps recommended - we started to get more sleep -it took about a week to get the hang of what worked for our LO- be patient and try, try again if you don't succeed right away. No joke- our daughter started sleeping through the night. She is 17 weeks old now and I have been getting 7-8 hours of straight sleep- now she is starting to sleep even longer. Thank you Dr. Karp. You are a genius and should win a Nobel Peace Prize :) ox

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 can't praise this guy high enough - he saved our live! I bought this DVD before our daughter was born and forgot about it. At about 4 weeks into the parenthood when both my husband and I were beginning to clime the walls and could be mistaken for zombies, in a desperate to find a way of calming the baby I was going through online forums and came across this. One of advisors were recommending to check it out and we did. It was a miracle - his techniques definitely work and Dr. Harvey Karp got himself two more fans! I also bought the book which repeats all that's in the DVD. I strongly recommend getting the DVD because he shows step-by-step the techniques, which btw are very easy and also explains the whole process and THAT makes a big difference! Absolutely love it!!!

My husband and I took a prenatal class and part of this video was featured, showing swaddling techniques and the "5 S's" to calm babies. I decided to get the whole video and I found it very useful to reinforce these concepts to calm our newborn. There does tend to be some repetition, but this helped to keep the main ideas in your memory. We have used the swaddling, shushing, swinging/ jiggling, etc to help soothe our baby, and he has been a pretty happy so far! It has given us some good tools to use when the baby starts to cry and we have already fed and changed him. I would recommend this video for all first time parents. I also got the book, and it goes into some other details about the reasoning behind the use of these techniques. I like to know this kind of information, but if you just want to quickly get the techniques, the video is perfect. It helps to see what they are talking about, particularly with the swaddling and the jiggling, which are hard to describe just in writing or even with diagrams.

La nueva forma de calmar bebésFunciona a la perfección en bebés de menos de tres meses. A mí me ha salvado la vida.

ich finde die erkenntnisse von harvey karp total spannend und berreichernd. ob es wirklich immer so gut klappt, wie im video dargestellt muss man natürlich selbst überprüfen.und auch da wird gelten: "übung macht den meister". dr.karp ist bestimmt ein meister :-)