Happiest Baby on the Block

James is now officially the happiest baby on the block. Not much of a feat, considering that we're pretty sure he's the only baby on the block. Over the past week, Brett read Happiest Baby on the Block. I cheated and got it on DVD. Although I think Dr Harvey Karp seems a little like a fish oil salesman, I really do think his 5 S's technique works. For those who are unfamiliar, Dr. Karp says there are 5 S's that can trigger a baby's calming reflex. They are:

1. Swaddling: which he recommends doing first so that the baby's hands don't distract him/her from being impacted by the other S's. Dr Karp has his own recommended swaddling method, but we use the miracle blanket and I think it accomplishes the same thing.
2. Shhhing: He recommends a loud shhshing noise a couple inches from the baby's ear. The sound should be as loud as the baby's cries. We make the shhhing noise ourselves during the day, but turn on a loud white noise machine at night. I went to Target for the white noise machine. It was $42 for the white noise machine in the baby section and only $25 for a similar item in the home spa section. We got this one.
3. Swinging: Karp says swinging, but it's really more like a jiggling motion. We accomplish the same motion by patting James' upper back as in burping him.
4. Side/Stomach position: Dr. Karp likes kids to be held parallel to the ground and on their side or stomach. He still recommends laying them on their back to sleep. I hold James upright against my chest and I think it accomplishes the same thing.
5. Sucking: Last, but not least, sucking really calms infants. Dr. Karp says you can use a pacifier or breastfeed. We generally opt for breastfeeding.

Although Dr. Karp says that these methods will improve a baby's sleep, I haven't noticed James sleeping for any longer stretches at night. However, I have found that I can get him back to sleep faster when he does wake up. Rather than taking an hour to and hour-and-a-half to nurse him and put him back down, I am probably averaging about 45 minutes now. He is still waking up about twice per night and sleeping in two to three hour stretches.

In other news, I've found a Mommy and Baby yoga class in town. I'm planning to check it our Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon we have a play date with Kelly and Ava from our birthing class. On Thursday, we go to the pediatrician for James' one-month appointment.

Brett went back to work today, but he works from home, so it's not too big of a change. I was very careful about not bothering him, but it was easy to do since my mother-in-law is here for a couple days to help out.