The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Karp was a huge lifesaver. I strongly recommend it to all new parents. This is a must have on your registry. My neighbors lent it to me when my son was born and I am still using its techniques.
Getting my son to sleep and giving me a break was priority number one. Well, you know making sure he was safe and fed was important too. The book teaches you to reproduce the conditions of the uterus to help your child relax and sleep. White noise and movement are the key. I used hair dryers, shushing him etc. We would place our radio dial to white noise, this became our favorite station. However as he got a little older this lost some of its effectiveness. And then one day we discovered something wonderful, heavy rock had the same effect. I don't mean 50's rock or Bon Jovi type rock. I am talking about Metallica. It is a hilarious phenomenon to watch. Say it is nap time and I'm driving or I'm driving home late from my in laws, I put on his PJ's diaper and our local rock station. As soon as I put the music on he gets really quiet and then stares off into the distance as if he was in a trance. Slowly his eyes begin to close, head bobs and he is out for the count. This does not work with slow rock , jazz or any other type of music. It also needs to have heavy electric guitar. One song that works like a charm is Animal, I don't know performs it. I think it is Nickleback. I would love to recommend this to anyone, but I can't say for sure the rock isn't going to rot his brain, but for now it is music to my ears.
