Moms, dads: This is an intervention. Your baby has an addiction. He’s highly dependent on loud noise, cramped quarters and bopping up and down…

Think about it: He just spent 40 weeks in the tight space of your womb. It’s the only home he’s ever known, and he’s gotten addicted to the lifestyle there. He spent his time doing yoga, folded up and feeling serene. His cozy room was neither still…nor quiet. It was very jiggly and noisy, in fact. Amazingly, all this commotion didn’t upset him. In fact, he found it soothing…

Babies Need a 4th Trimester

After years of caring for fussy babies, it dawned on me that babies cry because they leave the womb 3 months too soon! Compare human babies to cows, camels and horses who can walk, even run, on their first day of life. Our newborns can’t do any of that. They aren’t totally ready for this world.

“No wonder they cry,” one mom joked. “Like entering a detox program, we make our new babies go cold turkey from the 24/7 snuggling they had in the womb!”

I agree. It’s unfair to deprive your baby immediately of the soothing sensations he’s always depended on for calming and sleep. Instead, give your little guy a virtual “4th trimester” and watch his crying lessen and happiness grow.

Parents Need Help

It’s not easy, though, being a walking uterus! You’ll find it takes all day to hold, feed, nurture your baby--everything your body did automatically for 9 months. Yet, as hard as you’re working, just 12 hours a day is dramatically reduced cuddle time from your newborn’s POV.

One reason Happiest Baby created SNOO Smart Sleeper is to give babies the sensations they crave (while also giving mom and dad a break). In SNOO, your baby is swaddled and calmed by that snug feeling he loved in your belly. He’s then soothed by white noise and gentle womb-like motions. The result? SNOO helps babies drift to sleep faster and stretches slumber longer. And regarding his addition, our “smart” baby bed teaches him to self-soothe and gradually weans him off sound and motion by 6 months.

“When the baby comes out, the true umbilical cord is cut forever,” wrote Peter Farb in his book, Humankind. “yet the baby is still, in that second, a fetus . . . just a fetus one second older.”

It indeed helps to think of your new baby as a fetus…one who just needs a little time and family support to ease him off his old habits.

About Dr. Harvey Karp

Dr. Harvey Karp, one of America’s most trusted pediatricians, is the founder of Happiest Baby and the inventor of the groundbreaking SNOO Smart Sleeper. After years of treating patients in Los Angeles, Dr. Karp vaulted to global prominence with the release of the bestselling Happiest Baby on the Block and Happiest Toddler on the Block. His celebrated books and videos have since become standard pediatric practice, translated into more than 20 languages and have helped millions of parents. Dr. Karp’s landmark methods, including the 5 S’s for soothing babies, guide parents to understand and nurture their children and relieve stressful issues, like new-parent exhaustion, infant crying, and toddler tantrums.

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Disclaimer: The information on our site is NOT medical advice for any specific person or condition. It is only meant as general information. If you have any medical questions and concerns about your child or yourself, please contact your health provider.