Happiest Baby on the Block

Can you get this DVD in any HK shops? I live on the mainland and want to pick it up next time I'm in HK. I've read great reviews of Dr. Harvey Karp's methods, both available in DVD and book format.


If any of you have used this, what did you think of it? Did it help with your little one?

Yes, I bought it in HMV in Central at Xmas time. Haven't got around to watching it yet, I am a little overloaded with baby books at the moment! Maybe give them a call before you come down, they will hold things for you for a few days.

not a huge fan of Karp's methods - have the book - found it only so-so. Also have his happiest toddler book with his "caveman" system of understanding your children - again found it only so-so. I had much better luck with Gina Ford and baby signs.


How old is your baby? The happiest baby - really gears towards very young babies - those that are hard to settle and perhaps are fussy.

I liked the swaddle - shhh - sway (while holding on their tummy like a foot/rugby ball). That worked for us the first few weeks.

We didn't agree with the suck (pacifier) and I can't remember the other S.


We swaddled until baby could roll over at 5.5 months.

Thanks for the feedback. My LO is almost 5 weeks now. He's not too fussy, and we already swaddle him (my husband is the master of it now!). He just has his fussy moments, usually at the same time every evening (overstimulation is our guess at this time) and is hard to settle to sleep and get him to STAY sleeping.


I'm more interested in getting his sleep somewhat regulated and getting him to self-soothe better. I do have the Baby Whisperer book by Tracy Hogg, and we've tried a few of the routines roughly. I like her ideas, but we've yet to really try them. It's hard having him stay awake after a good feed (I'm BF). He's sleeping around 3 hrs. at a time (which I guess is average for a BF 5 wk old?).


Anyone have good results with the Baby Whisperer? I do have the G.Ford book, but find it too restricting. I guess I find it hard to believe that a wee infant can lay down in their cots and just 'go to sleep.' We have what Tracy calls a 'spirited baby.' I know that different methods work for different babies, I guess we just have our work cut out for us!


Love to hear what works for you...

Hi Dani, we worked out a combination of GF and TH methods - followed a loose routine based around GF but more to our days. At night time though I did use the shush-pat method and it worked pretty well - and recently we've been using the pick up/put down from TH too.


Not sure if 5 weeks is still a little too young for shush pat but our LO found it quite reassuring and I still use it from time to time now to calm her.


I found GF had some good common sense ideas for not overstimulating baby too close to bedtime which you didn't necessarily think of, they were so obvious!


Oh, one other thing, we used the cot mobile as a wake up tool rather than na go to sleep tool - the music made her want to play so we stopped using it at bedtime pretty sharp and used it in the mornings to say "wake up and play now!" instead.


Sorry, that's a bit woffly!!

Hi Dani R,


I follow Gina Ford's routine but I find Tracey Hogg very good too for understanding your baby.


You can read both and try to adapt the advice such that it works best for you and your baby.


My baby was and still is a spirited baby. We had a real hard time settling him for daytime naps. But we never gave up and now at 10 months, even though he doesn't sleep more than 2.5 hours in the day, the pattern is regular.


As for night-time sleep, he went down at 7pm until he was 3-4 months with my rocking. But I decided that had to stop so I just cut him out cold turkey for 3 days - it's pretty hard to listen to a crying baby and I certainly wouldn't recommend you do it at this stage. He cried for about 10-15 mins for 3 nights. after that, it was all good. after his bedtime milk, it was swaddle, goodnight kiss and i would leave the room. he would go to sleep by himself.


stuff that worked for us:


1) swaddle!!

2) a bedtime routine....bath, milk, cuddle and kisses.

3) sleep associations : by this i don't mean feed to sleep or pacifier. but stuff like a special toy or if you switch to a sleeping bag later. our grobag is a miracle bag. the minute i pop baby in it, he knows it's time to sleep. he's a thumbsucker during sleep time and once he sees the grobag, he sucks his thumb immediately. it's like our little cue for sleeptime!

4) wind down time - if you want baby to be asleep by say 7pm, try putting baby down by 6.45-6.50. baby will need time to wind down, get used to the cot and let himself fall asleep.

good luck, it's only 5 weeks, there's still time for things to improve!!

I loved the methods and theory in The Happiest Baby on the Block. It worked great with my baby for the first few months. It makes sense that human babies are born prematurely whereas other animals are born ready for the real world. She loved to suck on her dummy and rocked. She preferred human hands than swaddling (of course!) so when I had time, I would hold her hands instead of swaddling. Vigorous rocking was a must to make her sleep. Now that she is 5months old, I do not swaddle her. I sort of do Sh-pat method of Tracy Hogg in my own way, but I never forced it when she wasn't really ready. It was just obvious when the time came that she was ready for falling a sleep in her cot, not being transferred to it after falling asleep. Just about a week ago, my husband put her in the cot because he was tired, and I watched her for an experiment. I sang for her and pat her and stroked her head, but didn't pick her up. She looked as if she knew time has come to fall asleep on her own, looked for her dummy on the cot, took it, put it in her mouth, tossed and turned for a few minutes, but fell alseep on her side. It was so sweet to watch her making effort to sooth herself. It only took a few minutes. Just like that. After months of walking, cuddling, breastfeeding, etc. etc....

Wow! I'm impressed with everyone's efforts and methods, and it is early days yet. I think that we are still figuring out his needs, trying to see what works best for him.


We are making an effort to get him to the sleepy stage and then place him in his cot, not have him conked out and then place him in there. He does love swaddling and being rocked, it seems to calm him down alot. He doesn't seem to have a problem with the cot and going down at night (esp. after the dreamfeed) b/c he's so sleepy w/his milk.


Today we tried the set naptimes, and he fought the whole way through them, it was a tough day. Bathtime was fine, and now he's just chillin' w/dad. We shall see how the nighttime sleep goes.


Thanks for all of your suggestions, it's definitely trial and error as a new parent. It can be frustrating not knowing what to do and what works best for your baby, but we'll get there.

hey dani r,


that's a positive attitude, which most new mums (such as me) really lack in the beginning...


good for you and yes, you will get there!

Thanks Wheelymate! I'm trying my best to stay positive, esp. when there is so much to figure out. Actually, this forum has been a world of information to me, and I always learn new things from it. I really appreciate all the advice/info out there, thanks ladies (and dads too)!