{Product Review and Giveaway} The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep

As a newborn, my son Roc was a wee bit colicky.  From 7pm-9pm every night for 3 months straight, he would wail and wail and wail away.  The uncharted waters of parenthood were quite tumultuous for my husband and me in those early months, and let me tell you – I get seasick pretty easily.  Thankfully, our “Dramamine” came in the form of Dr. Harvey Karp’s book The Happiest Baby on the Block.

I remember receiving the book as a gift from one of my mom’s friends thinking at the time, “gee, that’s very nice – seems like a good book.” Little did I know that it would be a LIFESAVER to us.  In just a few short nights of reading, our family was sailing on calm, quiet seas, once we got the hang of putting Dr. Karp’s  methods into practice.

Fast forward two years later, at BlogHer 12, where I got to meet a kind representative from The Happiest Baby.  I nearly gave her a hug and kiss, and thanked her profusely for helping my husband and me to navigate through the rough seas of colic, and eventually get our boy into a soothing sleep pattern which  –THANK GOD – – has lasted for over a year and a half now.

When she offered to share with me Dr. Karp’s latest book The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep and DVD “The Happiest Toddler on the Block” I was once again overcome with gratitude.  As we are nearing the end of our crib days, I fear that I might be finding myself back at square one in terms of needing sleep education for my now-toddler.

The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep is broken up into four parts:

Part 1 – Sweet Sleep for Little Babies: Birth to Three Months

Part 2 – Sidestepping Infant Sleep Problems: Three to Twelve Months

Part 3 – Sleep Solutions in the Toddler and Preschool Years: One to Five Years

Part 4 – Tips to Create Happy Naps and to Handle Special Situations

Within each of these parts are a few chapters that dive deep into tips/tactics, anecdotes from other parents, the science behind it all, and more.

Dr. Karp’s written voice is a unique blend of authority, compassion, empathy, humor, science and warmth – qualities that I believe parents need and deserve when dealing with a pediatrician.  And out of the many books I received prior to my son’s birth, his Happiest Baby series continue to be the ones I’ve found the most useful due to their tone, topic matter and effectiveness.

For the purposes of the review, I did skim through the first two parts of the book pertaining to infant sleep  – nodding and smiling my way through the good advice I remembered being offered just 2 short years ago: the shushing, the swaddling, the sucking and cue the horns – the WHITE NOISE – all which worked like a charm for our son.

Let’s talk a little bit about White Noise for a moment.  If you’re not familiar with the concept, White Noise is “rumbly, whoosh noise that imitates the sound of the womb, turns on the calming reflex during the early months, and acts as a powerful sleep cue for older infants and toddlers – and even adults,” according to Dr. Karp.

The Happiest Baby Super-Soothing White Noise CD  is a must, must, must have if your infant, toddler or child is remotely colicky or has issues settling down to sleep.  It’s even broken up into two sections: Soothe Fussing and Increase Sleep.  Your colicky infant will be surprisingly calmed by the blaring noises of a hair dryer and a “fast and vigorous” sound that can only be described as other-worldly.  While your restless toddler, child (or husband!) will chill and get still with “Rain on the Roof” amongst other mellow sounds.

I can tell you firsthand that this CD WORKS.

I remember using it when Roc was a colicky infant and it actually came in handy once again while on vacation this summer.  My toddler son – while a great sleeper at home – tends to have adjustment issues the first night while away in a strange “bed.”  Before this CD, my husband and I would take turns rocking his stroller or staying up with him bleary eyed and exhausted until we all would collapse at 5:30am for a meager 3 hours of sleep. A few weeks back when we were headed on vacation, I grabbed the CD and packed it with Roc’s bedtime items.  I can happily report that we had ZERO sleep adjustment issues for the times Roc was away from his home base bed this month as a result of using the “Rain on the Roof” track on repeat.

I can also honestly attest that my own sleep was positively affected by the residual benefits of hearing the CD, too!

Back to the book.

As previously mentioned, I focused my reading heavily on the latter two chapters of the book since they were the most relevant to my life now with a toddler.  And perhaps the biggest takeaway for me was that it’s more than sleep education or sleep training: it has everything to do with daily behavior and setting the foundation for good sleep from the minute the child wakes up.  Dr. Karp offers little tips that when done consistently can make a difference at bedtime.

I was also thrilled to read that Dr. Karp is in favor of keeping the “blessed binky” at bedtime up until four years of age, if needed.  He has a wonderful section of Chapter 11 dedicated to this, but to sum up his main point, sucking is deeply soothing for little kids, and he reminds us that in traditional cultures, toddlers often breastfeed until four years old.  So his take on it is that you could stop it now, but do you really want to take away something that is innately soothing to your child?  Besides – to quote Karp, “nobody ever goes to college using a pacifier.”  He then provides a series of tips on eventually making the transition to a binky-free lifestyle.

When it comes to the subject of “sleep” in relation to being a parent, I often equate it with that colloquialism that says something like, “Without your health, you have nothing…”

The same could be said about sleep – for both child and parent.   And that’s where I found The Happiest Baby product line to really help not only my son get on a healthy sleep routine, but for my husband and me, too.  Because, truly, without sleep, what do you really have??

{Giveaway Details } Dr. Karp and the folks at The Happiest Baby on the Block know how important establishing a healthy sleep routine is for you and your family, so they are offering one lucky mom a la mode reader a Happiest Baby on the Block gift pack that includes:  

• The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep Book
• “The Happiest Toddler on the Block” DVD
• The Happiest Baby Super-Soothing White Noise CD

Want to be the happiest parents on your block?  Enter the raffle today: a Rafflecopter giveaway

oxox

– mom a la mode

{I was not compensated for this post but did receive the book, CD and DVD discussed above for product review purposes.  The opinions expressed in this post belong solely to me. }