How To Soothe A Crying Infant In 5 Easy Steps

Doctor Harvey Karp, pediatrician and author of The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer (damn, what an obnoxiously long book title!), claims to have discovered how to activate a calming reflex in infants. My first instinct, as usual, is to think that it's simply too good to be true, but the video is pretty interesting:



Now, the shushing really really doesn't sound like anything I would consider to be "soothing" for a baby, but Doc Karp remarks that the sound of a woman's blood flowing through her veins sounds about as loud as a vacuum cleaner to the growing fetus. I'm not sure if that's true (a cursory Google search didn't turn up anything), but there are a lot of mothers in one of my pregnancy forums who swear by this method - basically, every one who of them who has tried it says that once they figured out the right formula for their kid (some kids were more responsive to one particular step than others), it worked like a charm.

Has anyone out there ever tried this or heard of it? Would any of you with infants be willing to give it a shot and share the results with us? Y' know...for science?

The Party Never Stops In The Pee-pee Teepee

Jaunty Santa hats? Or sensible little tents for your son's unpredictable penis? You be the judge!



From the makers of this wonderful wiener hut:

The Pee-pee Teepee™ Poem
Changing a baby girl is not all glitz and glory;
Changing a baby boy is an even bigger horror story.
You hold his feet in one hand, and the diaper in the other;
The whole time praying, "Please don't pee on your mother!"

The Pee-Pee Teepee is a work of innovation created to protect fearful parents from their young son's indiscriminate penis. I've changed enough diapers to believe that such a product would be more or less useless, as little boys are so eager to grope themselves at the first opportunity and would therefore send the tent flying to the ground (or towards an eager toothless maw) instantly. But really, what do I know?

I do have to admit that the pic at the top of the home page is kind of adorable, albeit silly.

Just Learning To Walk? Wear A Helmet!

The pics are adorable, but really, is it necessary?



Introducing Thudguard: The answer to all of your infant rugby needs.



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For those of you who didn't see the post over the weekend, there's a new True or False Pregnant Lady Quiz. The winner gets an invisible puppy and a haiku!

Yay or Nay?

1. Nosebleeds are a symptom of early pregnancy.
2. Semen contains an enzyme that can cause early labor.
3. The oldest woman to give birth was 61 years old at the time of delivery.
4. The worldwide average of weaning a child from the breast is four years old.
5. After the first trimester, amniotic fluid consists mostly of fetal urine.

I'll be going over the answers on Friday!