Analysis Of The Happiest Baby On The Block

Parenting is a huge part of any person’s life, especially when it comes to becoming a new parent of an infant. For this paper, I decided to review the book “The Happiest Baby on the Block” by Harvey Karp.
Summary
The book “The Happiest Baby on the Block” first talks about the 4th trimester. Karp describes the 4th trimester by saying that new born babies are more like a fetus than they are an actual baby. It talks about how babies are not really ready to come out after 9 months, however, if they didn’t, they would not have enough room to make it out if they stayed in for another 3 months. The book also talks about colic. Colic is when a baby cries for hours at a time, and a lot of times, the parents do not understand why. Karp talks about ways

He also uses testimonials from real life parents and discusses their concerns and the best ways to deal with them. Not only that, but he is a parent, so he also has previous experience with the practices in this book.
Almost half of the book is made up of testimonials, so he has a lot of knowledge and understanding on the topic. Also, Karp understands that the techniques and information provided in the book may not work for everyone, and throughout the book he explains that it takes practice, so it’s important to be patient and let you baby take the lead. Overall, it is great that he shares the experiences of his patients to really help the reader to relate on more of an unprofessional level.
Argument
I agree with Karp for the most part. With any parenting book, it’s important to keep in mind that not everything works for everyone, and it is best to understand that there are many trial and error things that one can always try. I feel as though he could have made his point in an easier and quicker way, but it does have a lot of good, relevant information. To me, the book was a little redundant. All the information could have been covered in a shorter about of writing; however I do like that he has several reminders and tips throughout the book for those who are reading it that may be new

I do feel as though the book does line-up fairly well with our course content. I have found a lot of similarities with this book and the second chapter in “Nurture Shock”. This content lines-up because the whole book is about how to get your baby to sleep longer. The second chapter in “Nurture Shock” is about losing an hour of sleep. Therefore, they are both about how sleep can really affect a person in the long run. For instance, in “The Happiest Baby on the Block”, it states that “we should never brag that we are sleeping like a baby” (Karp, 2002, pg. 212). As we all know, babies sleep on and off all day long. As a parent, we are not able to necessarily go by that same schedule and sleep when the baby sleeps. Not only that, but when an infant is fussy, they lose sleep, as well because they are not able to calm themselves down. In “Nurture Shock”, it states that losing even an hour of sleep can do a lot of harm to the body. Not only do babies need sleep, but adults do too. “Nurture Shock” says, “The surprise is not merely that sleep matters, but how much it matters” (Bronson & Merryman, 2009, pg. 31). With that being said, the amount of sleep that humans get each night does a great deal on our development. That’s why the 5 S’s from this parenting book is important because they are designed to help you and your baby sleep better and longer. This content goes hand in hand with one