Certified Happiest Baby Educator

Happiest Baby Classes teach the techniques to calm a crying baby, developed by reknowed pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp.
The theory behind the techniques is what Dr. Karp calls the missing fourth trimester. Our evolution was dependent on our brains, but our heads could only get so big in utero, so our babies are born totally helpless. In contrast, a horse, whose survival is dependent on its physical prowess, can walk almost immediately upon birth and run shortly thereafter. In short, when our babies are born, they are still fetuses for the most part. So to calm them, we try to recreate the womb.

The Happiest Baby on the Block techniques are called the 5 S's.

1. Swaddling
   In class, you will learn how to swaddle your baby so that they are tightly wrapped and can't escape. This tightness is what the womb was like for them and helps them be organized.
2. Side or Stomach
   When babies are on their backs, they often feeling like they are falling. You'll notice they are much more likely to exibit the Moro, or startle, reflex on their backs, but on their sides or stomachs they are more calm. Nonetheless, we always put babies to sleep on their backs due to the reduced incidence of SIDS.
3. Shushing
   Loud white noise reminds babies of all the sounds inside the womb.
4. Swinging
   In the womb, though they are confined, fetuses move around a lot when the mother walks, takes the stairs, etc.
5. Sucking
   Babies soothe themselves by sucking, either on a finger (theirs or yours) or on a pacifier.