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Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby
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Editorial Reviews:
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?TRACY HOGG HAS GIVEN PARENTS A GREAT GIFT?the ability to develop early insight into their child?s temperament.?
?Los Angeles Family
When Tracy Hogg?s Secrets of the Baby Whisperer was first published, it soared onto bestseller lists across the country. Parents everywhere became ?whisperers? to their newborns, amazed that they could actually communicate with their baby within weeks of their child?s birth. Tracy gave parents what for some amounted to a miracle: the ability to understand their baby?s every coo and cry so that they could tell immediately if the baby was hungry, tired, in real distress, or just in need of a little TLC. Tracy also dispelled the insidious myth that parents must go sleepless for the first year of a baby?s life?because a happy baby sleeps through the night. Now you too can benefit from Tracy?s more than twenty years? experience. In this groundbreaking book, she shares simple, accessible programs in which you will learn:
? E.A.S.Y.?how to get baby to eat, play, and sleep on a schedule that will make every member of the household?s life easier and happier.
? S.L.O.W.?how to interpret what your baby is trying to tell you (so you don?t try to feed him when he really wants a nap).
? How to identify which type of baby yours is?Angel, Textbook, Touchy, Spirited, or Grumpy?and then learn the best way to interact with that type.
? Tracy?s Three Day Magic?how to change any and all bad habits (yours and the baby?s) in just three days.
At the heart of Tracy?s simple but profound message: treat the baby as you would like to be treated yourself. Reassuring, down-to-earth, and often flying in the face of conventional wisdom, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer promises parents not only a healthier, happier baby but a more relaxed and happy household as well.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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The last thing new parents can find time for is quiet reading, so many helpful books on infant care rely on bullet points and a "let's get to the point" writing style. Tracy Hogg, a neonatal nurse, teacher, and mother of two, uses these techniques to good effect in Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. Focusing on newborns and their parents, her simple programs are a blend of intelligent intuition and methods based on years of experience. The first half of the book is devoted to E.A.S.Y--her name for creating a structured daily routine for you and your baby that makes the most of your baby's awake times and also leaves time just for you. These concepts aren't designed to force your bundle of joy into not following her body's needs, but rather to create a feasible middle ground between total rigidity and on-demand food and sleep (and no time for mom to shower). If it still strikes you as too regimented, keep reading. The author makes room for differences in personal style and includes short quizzes to determine whether you're a "planner" or a "winger", and what level of daily structure you are likely to find helpful. In the same chapter, she identifies five general temperaments of infants, how to get an accurate feel for yours, and what methods of care are likely to be the most effective for his temperament. Her statement that babies prefer routine is backed up by research from the University of Denver. While most of the book relies on anecdotes to get the points across, Hogg does find room to back up some of her statements with quotes from various researchers and institutions. Included at the end of the book are assurances that E.A.S.Y. can be followed even with a colicky baby or one who's been ruling the roost for the first few months. Frustrated parents might like to read the last page first: "all the baby-whispering advice in the world is useless unless you're having a good time being a parent" is an excellent reminder to enjoy this time with all of its ups and downs. --Jill Lightner
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Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby
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User Comments:
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Great resource for new parents
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My husband read the book cover to cover, while I focused on the portions dealing with sleeping through the night. It was the most I could due in my semi-comatose sleep deprived state. I found her insight to be practical and in line with my own philosophy. I found the book useful in providing comfort for my anxiousness while giving us great tools to consider implementing in the care of our twins. It's good easy reading and provides loads of troubleshooting advice, but like any other advice use what works for you. It was very useful as we prepared to train our babies to sleep through the night. We purchased this book when our twin daughters were 5 weeks old. I don't believe any book is the end-all-be-all so I reviewed the suggestions and tried them and stuck with what worked.
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I could not agree more. I will agree with some of the other posters that, her British-isms get a little old after a few chapters. I liked this book much better. Tracy advocates that happy parents make better parents. Sears, (which had brought me to tears). But he really responded well to the EASY routine. My son was a grumpy, colicy baby.
And I also think she was a bit harsh on those parents who said her techniques didn't work for them.(that's why I only gave 4 stars instead of 5) No technique works for everyone. I had read one of the books by Dr. I bought this book on the suggestion of a friend. I know that attachment parenting works for some, but not for me.
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First Time Mom - helped me feel like "I can do this"
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The key is to find what works for you and your child. The purpose behind the EASY program is to make it easier for mom or dad to determine what baby needs. But I also don't think she would tell a mom not to feed her child if he/she is hungry. It keeps me sane so I can continue to enjoy being a mom without feeling like my son is taking away everything I used to enjoy. I think they can be if they are followed too strictly, ignoring the needs of your baby in order to follow a program. Many reviewers see her ideas as selfish, but I see them as an important part of being a mom. Tracy was just reassuring those mothers who choose formula that their child can still be happy and healthy.
I read it before my son was born (first and only child). Tracy's ideas encourage mothers to find a happy medium between spending time with baby and spending time for yourself so that you can also be physically and emotionally healthy. I would also recommend reading additional books and not sticking to just one. Another major idea behind Tracy's advice is that you must take care of yourself in order to properly take care of your child. I would definitely recommend this book to others. Many reviewers felt Tracy's ideas were rigid and cruel to babies.
Most of the book focuses on learning to discern the needs of your baby in order to make life easier for baby and mom and dad. I don't think there is anything wrong with rocking your child to sleep, letting them sleep in your arms, nursing them to sleep, etc. Tracy Hogg's suggestions worked great for us. I was very scared about becoming a mom because of all the horror stories I heard. It boosts my confidence and helps me to love being a mom. Breastfeeding: Contrary to other reviewers, I felt like Tracy Hogg favored breastfeeding, but made it a point to help bottle feeding mothers feel like they weren't ruining their child's life.
I don't agree. I use many of Tracy's techniques and I feel like I am more capable of meeting my sons needs, which help him to feel loved and comfortable and also help me to feel like a more competent mother. Not every baby will adopt the kinds of problems that Tracy encountered in her career, but many babies may and her suggestions are intended to help prevent those problems if your child is prone to them. I feed my son whenever he is hungry, but when I am reading his cues correctly, his body NATURALLY conforms to a regular schedule (exceptions during growth spurts of course). For that reason I think it is important to take parenting advice as an outline/template and not to expect to replicate it exactly.
I love my son more than anything, but I still need time to be me and enjoy things for myself and I don't think there is anything wrong with putting a little time aside for me. No child will respond the same way and not everything will work for every child. It is true that she does not believe in on-demand feeding. I don't believe that is the way Tracy intended her ideas to be implemented. EASY Program: Tracy suggests putting your child on a schedule, but I don't think she ever intended it to be strict. My sister tried breastfeeding, but had troubles and wasn't able to continue and it was very hard for her. This book really helped me to feel like hard times were completely normal and to be expected but that I could handle them without being a failure.
Be openminded. as long as it doesn't become routine everyday/all day, because that is when the problems will begin to establish themselves. I think it is increasingly more difficult to meet the needs of your baby if you don't meet the needs of yourself especially if you are breastfeeding. One of the most important things to know before reading ANY parenting book is that every child is different. I loved this book. If the EASY program is implemented to fit YOUR family, it will help to establish a sense of routine and calmness, which will help your baby feel safe and comfortable as he settles into life.
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Advice is middle of the road - a balance between letting baby rule your life and making sure baby needs are met while still meeting your needs. I guess I won't know til later whether the advice really works. Got this book from the library and then liked it so well, I bought it. Haven't had the baby yet to apply the advice to, but the book is easy to follow and it's easy to find topics you need help with.
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Basically we kept feeding him on demand which was okay in the beginning but he didn't need it after a while. Plus I kept interpreting every cry as a cry for food.
Finally after two and a half months of getting short stretches of sleep totaling maybe 3 hours a night and dealing with postpartum issues, we had to make a change. My baby is now waking once or twice a night to feed as opposed to every two hours.
This book gave us a plan to follow and made us realize that routine is not all that bad.
It's not a perfect book but it is working for us right now. Like most parents today, we were overwhelmed by the amount of advice given to us by family, friends, and other books about good sleep habits for our little guy.
We have been using the plan for a week and it has made a difference and brought back some sanity.
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