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By Angela Haupt
Posted: August 26, 2010

Perhaps no flu season in recent memory has been as hyped and harrowing as last year’s, when swine flu infected millions and vaccine shortages led to long lines and frustration. As a new flu season dawns, and students head back to school, the latest vaccine—which protects against three strains of flu expected to circulate in months ahead, including the H1N1 virus (aka swine flu)— is already arriving at doctors’ offices and other clinics. U.S. News answers pressing questions about the upcoming flu season, the new vaccine, and how to stay healthy.

[H1N1 Not a Threat, But Vaccine Still Warranted]

When does the flu season start and end?

Cases have already been reported by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means flu is striking early this year—the season doesn’t officially start until October. Flu activity usually peaks in January, February, and March, and winds down in May, says Henry Bernstein, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ infectious diseases committee.

What kind of flu season will it be?

Flu is unpredictable, and it’s impossible to say with any certainty what kind of season we’re in for. “It’s an imperfect art,” says Harvey Karp, a child development specialist at the University of Southern California School of Medicine.” But we went through a pretty robust H1N1 season last year, so a lot of people have immunity to that virus. That should be a good thing this year.” Too much stress, however, can lower immunity and increase susceptibility to flu—and continuing economic troubles have us pretty stressed out, he adds.

When does the vaccine become available?

It’s available now—companies began distributing this year’s batch in August. It may arrive later in some towns than others, however.

Who should get the flu shot?

For the first time, the CDC is recommending vaccination for everyone 6 months and older—not just the medically vulnerable. Vaccination is particularly important for high-risk groups, including children, those 65 and over, pregnant women, and anyone with an underlying condition that weakens the immune system, such as HIV, asthma, diabetes, or cancer. Since infants 6 months and under can’t be vaccinated, their entire family—and their caregivers—should get the shot, Bernstein says.

How many shots does this year’s vaccine require?

Most people only need one. Children ages 6 months to 9 years, however, need two doses if they’ve never been vaccinated against flu, or if they only received one dose of the H1N1 vaccine last year. Those doses are given four weeks apart. The first dose primes the immune system, while the second provides immune protection, says Deborah Wexler, a family physician who founded the Immunization Action Coalition, an advocacy group that works to increase immunization rates. If a child needs two doses but only receives one, he or she will have little or no flu protection.

Is there a best time to get the flu shot?

There’s no advantage to waiting, Bernstein says. The sooner you get it, the sooner you’re protected.

How long does it take to kick in?

About two weeks. “That’s why it’s never too late to get vaccinated,” Bernstein says. “Some people think that if they didn’t get it by November or December, it’s too late. That’s not true.” It’s worth getting the shot even toward the end of flu season, because protection develops quickly.

Can the vaccine wear off, especially if you get it early?

No. If you get vaccinated now, you’ll still be protected when flu season wraps up next year, Bernstein says.

[PTA Pushes Flu Shots for Kids]

Should anyone avoid the vaccine?

If you’re allergic to chicken eggs, which are used to produce the vaccine, or if you’ve had a reaction to a past flu vaccine, talk with your doctor first. Signs of a serious reaction include breathing problems, hives, weakness, a fast heartbeat, and dizziness, according to the CDC. If you’re sick with a fever, wait to get vaccinated until your symptoms have subsided—that way, you won’t confuse symptoms of a reaction with your original sickness, says Carolyn Bridges, associate director for science in the influenza division of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Why does this year’s vaccine protect against swine flu? I thought the threat was over.

Although H1N1 is no longer considered a pandemic, the virus is still expected to circulate. Flu vaccines are developed with the World Health Organization, which predicts the virus strains that will spread each season. Two other strains, H3N1 and influenza B—are also included in this year’s vaccine.

Does being vaccinated mean you won’t get the flu or does it just reduce the odds?

The vaccine reduces the likelihood by 70 to 90 percent, according to the CDC. If the flu strains circulating in your community are identical to one of the strains in the vaccine, there will be a very high level of protection. Sometimes, however, the circulating strain and the strain in the vaccine are not a perfect match, meaning protection is not guaranteed, Bernstein says. The vaccine’s effectiveness also depends on your age and overall health; those with a weakened immune system, for instance, will still be more susceptible.

Last year we experienced vaccine shortages. Is that likely to happen again this season?

No. About 160 to 165 million doses of the vaccine are expected compared to 114 million doses last year, according to the CDC. “There will be more than enough to go around,” Bernstein says.

Is the vaccine ever modified in mid-season to account for new flu strains that arise?

No. The entire production process—predicting which viruses will circulate, producing the vaccine, seeking FDA approval, and packaging and shipping—takes about six months. Once it’s been produced, there’s no turning back.

How serious a health concern is flu?

Between 5 and 20 percent of people are infected each year, reports the CDC, causing anywhere from 3,300 to 49,000 deaths annually and 200,000 hospitalizations. The flu can also lead to ear infections, sinus infections, and pneumonia. “We should be very worried about it,” Bernstein says, “which is why vaccination is so strongly recommended.”

How does flu spread?

Mostly through direct contact with droplets in the air like those produced by coughing or sneezing. It circulates easily through airplanes. And touching is another primary culprit, such as when an infected child plays with a toy and then hands it to a friend. “When you rub your eyes or nose and then open a door, you just deposited some virus on the doorknob,” Karp says. “Someone coming along 10 minutes later will grab that door, and the virus has spread. Flu is like sticky rice: If you have rice on your hands, I have it on mine, too.”

What are the symptoms?

The telltale signs include fever, chills, stomach ache, sore throat, stuffy nose, headache, muscle aches, and fatigue. Even if you don’t yet know you’re infected, you can transmit flu. “You’re contagious for 24 hours before you develop any symptoms,” Wexler says.

In addition to the vaccine, what steps can you take to help prevent flu?

Wash your hands frequently, keep your hands off your face, and cover your cough—ideally with a tissue or by coughing into the crook of your arm, rather than your hands, Karp says. In other words, use common sense. Enough sleep is also important, to keep your immune system strong and reduce your chances of catching a bug.

Related posts:

1. Cracking The Autism Riddle: Common Sense About Vaccines And Autism
2. Deadly Whooping Cough, Once Wiped Out, Is Back
3. Cracking the Autism Riddle: “Vaccine Theory” Fades as a New Idea Emerges

Colic can take an enormous toll on parents, transforming what should be the happiest time in our lives into one of abject misery. As Lee described it, “I was a wreck. You were the same way when you were a baby, my mom told me. You turned out just fine. Just fine? I physically beat myself up because I couldn’t get my son to stop crying.”

Colic usually occurs between a newborn’s second week and up through the third or fourth month, and is usually defined as a baby who cries and fusses for more than 3 hours a day, 3 days a week for 3 weeks (the so-called rule of 3s). Think about that for a minute! Consider how you would cope with a child who screamed and screamed for hours on end, without the ability to express what was wrong. No wonder it can push an already overwhelmed new mom or dad over the edge into bickering, exhaustion…even depression and aggression.

During almost 30 years as a pediatrician, I’ve worked with countless parents like Lee. They’re at their wit’s end, and feel so helpless and inept. They express a lot of guilt and shame, as if not being able to tame colic makes them a failure as a parent. But when you’re new to the game, and just so darn worn out, it’s very easy to give in to these doubts and bad feelings. As Lee says in her post, “The only thing that changed was my increasing anxiety that my son would not turn out “just fine.” That I was failing on some fundamental level as a mother. That I was in the process of breaking my baby, a little more every night.”

I have my own theory on colic , detailed in The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD , that has helped millions of parents around the world calm their baby’s crying. I believe that in a “weird” sort of a way, our babies are born 3-months too soon (not that I’ve ever talked a mom into trying this!). Baby horses are ready to run from the very first day, but our babies are super-immature for at least the first 3-6 months. Rather than being plunked down on a flat crib in a stone-silent room they need us to imitate the five soothing, hypnotic rhythms they experienced in the womb (the “5 S’s”) to help them stay calm and relaxed.

The Department of Health of Boulder, Colorado tried this approach out with 42 at risk families (teen moms, premature babies, drug users, etc) who all had very fussy babies. They did a study showing that 41 out of 42 very fussy babies immediately improved with the “5 S’s” and three special tools : a Happiest Baby DVD to reinforce the teaching, a large, thin swaddling blanket, and a Happiest Baby CD of womb sounds to play for naps and all night long. After that, the families found they could dramatically reduce their babies’ crying, and often add at least an hour to their nighttime sleep.

Equally important to relieving your baby’s discomfort from colic is relieving YOUR discomfort. Learning to handle the stress that comes with colic is one of your most important goals on this journey. Keep the focus not on the actual discomfort and crying, but on what you can and will do to relieve that crying. This helps you avoid negative thoughts and go into “solution” mode.

Remember to keep taking breathers as needed. Carrying a crying baby around for an entire day is too overwhelming for most parents, whether new or seasoned. Ask your partner to help, or a trusted family member, friend, or neighbor. Taking time to relax and rejuvenate will allow you to come back from your break with more energy and patience (which, we all know, are big requirements for parents, especially those dealing with a screaming baby). Use that time to do whatever helps you press the “reset” button, whether it’s walking around the block in the fresh air, getting a massage, or simply grabbing a quick shower or a nap. Your baby needs you to be the best parent you can be, but to do so you must make time to take care of yourself.

Most often, when the “5 S’s don’t work, it means they are not being done correctly. So, if the “5 S’s” aren’t helping please review the Happiest baby DVD to make sure you are doing each step exactly right. And, if you are doing them correctly and the baby is still very fussy, please contact your doctor to check to make sure the baby is not ill or in pain.

However, never shake your baby! Remember, babies are delicate and can be injured by rough handling. So, if you are getting frustrated or angry because of your baby’s crying, please put your baby down for a little bit and take a break. And, make sure to tell everyone who is helping with the baby how dangerous it is to shake and to take a break if they are getting frustrated or upset.

One of the biggest concerns doctors have about babies with colic is that this type of persistent crying – and the exhaustion it causes – can trigger very serious health issues, including postpartum depression. The slip into depression can happen so easily for some women (though there’s evidence that fathers often suffer from postpartum depression, too) and an infant with colic could definitely push a new mom down that path. Some moms describe that they feel constantly anxious or strangely alienated from their baby, or want to get in the car and just flee! Just recently, celebrity mother Gwyneth Paltrow discussed openly her own battle with postpartum depression , and encouraged mothers to seek help if necessary. Make no mistake about it: colic can wreak havoc on the life of a new family.

The best news about dealing with colic? In most cases, the “5 S’s” can dramatically help! I know it feels like it will never end, but it will. And infants who experience colic do not experience any negative effects in the long run. Take care of yourself during this trying time. Get rest, take walks outside, eat well, take turns with your partner, don’t worry about housework and chores, and remember that you’re doing the very best that you can do. In the meantime, check out my website for more information on colic, and share it with friends or fellow parents who might be trying to tame the colic beast.

Related posts:

1. New Study Finds Fathers Equally at Risk for Postpartum Depression
2. Unlocking The Colic Mystery
3. 2007 Boulder County Case Study – Teaching Parents to Calm Fussy Infants

A crawling baby learns about her world with every step, building her muscles as she discovers the difference between smooth bathroom tiles and squishy living room rugs. To her burgeoning taste buds, both taste great.

But research shows that babies pick up more than new skills as they explore their environments.

Infants may take in two to five times as much household dust as adults, even though they weigh only one-eighth as much, says Alan Greene, a pediatrician at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Because of that dust, babies are more likely to be exposed to pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals inside the home than outside, he says.

Children younger than 2 are also more vulnerable to toxins than adults because they’re still developing, Greene says. On average, children that age who are exposed to a carcinogen are 10 times more likely than an adult to develop cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s a sound assumption that we should be 10 times more careful with children,” Greene says.

Pediatrician Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, suggests parents open their windows to ventilate the air once a day, if weather permits. He notes that indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air, partly because of solvents and other chemicals found in paint, flooring, rugs, furniture and dry cleaning.

Yet toxic exposures often start long before babies can crawl. Babies today are typically born “pre-polluted,” exposed to potential carcinogens even before birth, a report by the President’s Cancer Panel said in May.

CANCER PANEL: Toxins cause ‘grievous harm’
CARCINOGENS: Found in child bath products
GREEN CLEANING: Readers test methods

In a study of umbilical cord blood by the Environmental Working Group, researchers found 180 carcinogens in babies and 217 chemicals that were toxic to the brain or nervous system.

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 6% of cancer deaths — nearly 34,000 a year — are caused by environmental pollutants.

Because so little research has been done on cancer and the environment, it’s possible the true number of pollution-related cancer deaths is actually much higher, the President’s Cancer Panel says.

Related posts:

1. Dr. Harvey Karp, The “Happiest Baby” author on his autism theory
2. Cracking the Autism Riddle: Toxic Chemicals, A Serious Suspect in the Autism Outbreak
3. Pavley giving out BPA-free baby bottles in L.A.

California is in the midst of its worst outbreak of whooping cough in a half-century. More than 2,700 cases have been reported so far this year — eight times last year’s number at this point. Seven of the victims, all infants, have died.

And here’s what really worries pediatricians like USC’s Harvey Karp: Doctors thought they wiped out whooping cough when they developed vaccines decades ago.

The disease hits young children hardest, especially ones who are not vaccinated or who have not yet built up full immunity. The prescribed vaccination regimen begins with a shot at two months and continues until children are 5 years old. For many children, it can take that long for complete immunity to develop — and until then, they’re vulnerable.

The California epidemic has raised plenty of questions about the role of vaccination and the increasing numbers of parents who decide not to vaccinate their children. California’s Department of Public Health cites three schools in the state where 80 percent of parents have signed a “personal belief exemption” to keep their children from being vaccinated.

That’s part of what’s behind this epidemic, Dr. Karp tells NPR’s Guy Raz. “And it’s in part because the immunity of people who were immunized earlier has waned,” he adds.

In fact, Karp estimates that 75 percent to 90 percent of whooping cough cases occur in teenagers and adults, for whom it is not deadly. Most adults may experience only a lingering cough. The danger occurs when adults and teenagers — whose immunity wanes around 12 years old — contract whooping cough and unwittingly give it to infants.

There is a booster shot for adults, but it only became available in 2005. Many adults are not even aware that they should get one every 10 years.

“Doctors — especially pediatricians — aren’t doing a good enough job,” Karp says. “When you go into the doctor’s office for your child’s care, your pediatrician should be telling you that you should be getting immunized as well.”

Karp acknowledges that vaccination is a difficult issue for parents.

“They’re very busy, working hard, working double jobs — it’s really a burden to have to be a parent and then also have to be a biochemist, to read the literature and decide what vaccines are good and what vaccines aren’t good,” he says.

In the background, he says, parents see a frightening increase of autism, coupled with reports of a potential link to vaccinations.

“All of that has stopped parents in their tracks from wanting to take any chance that they were going to expose their child to something that might be dangerous,” Karp says. “I totally understand that. The good news is — we have a large body of information now to show zero association between vaccines and autism.”

“But,” he adds, “we do need to try to help parents figure all of this information out so that they can make the best decision for their kids.”

Related posts:

1. Flu Season 2010-11: What to Know to Stay Healthy
2. Cracking The Autism Riddle: Common Sense About Vaccines And Autism
3. Cracking the Autism Riddle: “Vaccine Theory” Fades as a New Idea Emerges

As a recent study concluded, the same goes for a more unlikely shared parenting experience – postpartum depression. The idea that only women suffer from postpartum depression – a very difficult, sometimes debilitating, type of anxiety and worry experienced by 10 -15% of all new mothers after childbirth – is equally out of date. In fact, this disorder seems to affect men in a similar way.

The study, a careful review of 43 previous studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, validates what dads have been feeling (whether openly or not) for years: depression in the early stages of parenthood is not just for women. As many as 10% of new dads experience it, especially when babies are between the age of 3-to-6-months. The shocking new responsibility of parenthood accompanied by the all-too-common sleep deprivation are major contributors to this disorder. The black hole of postpartum depression – the anxiety, pain, fear, apathy, exhaustion, and hopelessness – especially when your baby has persistent crying (colic) – can give way to feelings of shame, isolation, hopelessness and extreme guilt. This condition is not to be taken lightly — it’s widely accepted that postpartum depression can wreak havoc on a new family’s dynamic, not to mention the stability of marriage.

Common stresses like fatigue and colic are powerful triggers of postpartum depression in both men and women. One proven strategy for battling sleep deprivation – for infants, moms, and dads – and building parent confidence despite their baby’s colic is the “5 S’s.” These highly successful techniques activate the “calming reflex” – a virtual “off-switch” for crying and “on switch” for sleep that all babies are born with. This method (demonstrated step-by-step in The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD and book) can make easy babies even easier and quickly stop most cases of colic and boost a baby’s sleep by 1-3 hours per night.

The best news of all is that after learning these simple steps, men often become the best baby calmers in the family! So they gain confidence in their new role as caretaker while getting more sleep. And, as any mom or dad suffering from postpartum depression will tell you, a good night’s rest goes a long way. It’s the first step to recovery. So we encourage dads everywhere to empower themselves by learning the 5 S’s, consider it your best weapon in the battle against postpartum depression, so that men and women alike are equally well-equipped and confident every time they hear the words, “Your turn, honey.”

Related posts:

1. Fussy Babies and Postpartum Depression Linked
2. Pacifiers Reduce Risk of Crib Deaths, Study Finds
3. Mothers’ postpartum psychological adjustment and infantile colic

Related posts:

1. We did not know about The Happiest Baby on the Block when our son was born and suffered through months of sleep deprivation & post-partum depression as we couldn’t soothe him. He hated being swaddled. Our question is; we would like to add to our family but cannot see ourselves surviving another colicky child. Why do you think your techniques work?
2. Do you have the happiest baby on the block?
3. DVD Review: “The Happiest Toddler on the Block”

- Shana, mom of two-year-old Danny

If you’ve got toddlers, then feeding, feeding, feeding has been your big job for a long, long time. We all feel like good parents when our kids clean their plates.

Yet many toddlers tenaciously refuse any food other than crackers, macaroni and cheese, and buttered bread. Don’t take this fussiness personally; it’s just a normal part of the rigidity so common to the toddler years. Take some time to read a nutrition book or check with your doctor to learn the amount of nutrients your child really needs, and track his food intake over a week or two to see if he is getting enough. Most kids require less than we think, and their refusal usually has nothing to do with our cooking. Here are four reasons toddlers become “food refuseniks”:

Not hungry. Shortly after the first birthday a toddler’s weight gain suddenly slows down. Andy by 18 to 24 months, many toddlers become “grazing animals,” preferring many snacks a day to regular meals.

Mealtime is playtime. To your toddler, a meal is as much play, or a science experiment, as it is a time to eat.

Green is yucky. It’s smart to like red and avoid green. Red signals what’s ripe, sweet, and safe to eat. Green foods are often bitter or unripe. (Even with lollipops – toddlers pick red over green almost every time!)

Temperamental taste buds. Some toddlers are just born supersensitive. They hate rough clothes, loud noises, and strong flavors.

Some parents avoid battles they can’t win. So rather than trying to force your toddler to eat something he doesn’t want, sidestep the conflict by hiding it in the food he likes or finding a win-win compromise.

Connect with Respect. Narrate your toddler’s strong desire not to eat so she knows you understand.

Catch Others Being Good. Point out what toddlers have on their plates when you visit restaurants. Invite older kids to your house to eat a meal. Toddlers love imitating others, especially slightly older kids.

Win-Win Compromise. Compete to see who can chomp down the “little trees” (broccoli) the fastest. Offer choices (“Should I give you three peas or two?”) and suggest a win-win compromise (“Eat a green bean and you can have another French fry. Eat two more green beans and you can have all five of these French fries!”). If your toddler drives a hard bargain and eats only one tiny nibble of the bean, you should still give her a piece of the French fry because that’s definitely a baby step in the right direction.

Reverse Psychology. When your toddler reaches for a piece of broccoli, at first let her have only a tiny piece. Say, “No way! Mommy wants them ALL ….they’re Mommy’s trees.” When your tot gobbles up her piece, exaggerate a pretend pout and say, “Hey, that’s mine…you ate my broccoli!”

Want more tips on overcoming even the most difficult behavior challenges with your toddler? See these tips in action with The Happiest Toddler DVD – a bestselling parenting guide that offers breakthrough techniques for soothing stormy outbursts, preventing tantrums before they begin, with amazing results: Less yelling, more cooperation and respect, and more happy, loving time for you and your toddler.

Related posts:

1. Toddler Tantrums: Should We Rush to “Make It All Better”?
2. The Great Surprise About Swaddling
3. Hurtful Words & Talking to Toddlers

We were thrilled to shine a spotlight on one of Founding Board Members and a driving force behind the work of Healthy Child Healthy World, Dr. Harvey Karp.  

Dr. Karp has been a practicing pediatrician and child development specialist for 30 years.  He is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the USC School of Medicine in Los Angeles and has committed his full-time efforts to writing, lecturing and education.  He has been a spokesperson on children’s environmental health for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the California Department of Health Services, and the California Medical Association. His best-selling books, The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block, have made him one of America’s most read pediatrician.

There’s a reason why The New York Times celebrated his contribution to modern parenting by saying, "Roll over Dr. Spock!"  Take a look at this great video (shown at our event) highlighting Dr. Karp’s work and impact:

The Happiest Baby on the Block book and DVD solve the 3,000-year-old medical mystery, “What is colic?” and reveal Dr. Karp’s discovery of the "calming reflex", a virtual crying off-switch babies are born with. This reflex soothes most fussy babies in minutes and can boosts sleep by 1-3 hours per night!  And calmer babies equal calmer, more confident parents.  His method is taught in hospitals, health departments, and military bases across the country by thousands of specially trained educators.

Dr. Karp’s follow-up book and DVD, The Happiest Toddler on the Block, are among the most used toddler parenting guides in the country. They teach parents of children 8 months to 5 years of age a surprisingly more effective toddler communication approach that can rapidly boost a toddler’s patience, cooperation and reduce outbursts and tantrums.  

Its impossible to overstate Dr. Karp’s influence on the work of Healthy Child and his inordinate assistance to the cause.  He continues to inspire us all.  In his own words:

"John Muir, the great American naturalist, said that if you reach out and tug on a tiny piece of nature, you’ll discover that everything is connected to everything else. And because of this great connection, we often blunder into doing harm. “Oops, we’re sorry we polluted your river for the next 100 years!”…“Oops, we didn’t know the chemical we were using caused cancer!” These unintended consequences are especially worrisome for our children because early life experiences and exposures influence whether or not they will grow up to have healthy and happy lives. We’ve changed the world before and now, for the sake of our children, it’s time to do it again.  And, as a bonus, your thoughtful example will nurture in your children your deep values, respect for nature, and the desire to make the world better."

Related posts:

1. Exclusive interview with baby expert Dr. Harvey Karp at Destination Maternity grand opening
2. Dr. Harvey Karp, The “Happiest Baby” author on his autism theory
3. Dr. Harvey Karp’s Child Abuse Prevention Advice

Those days are gone.

Starting in 1946, a whole generation of baby boomers were raised on advice from the avuncular pediatrician, whose book “Baby and Child Care” sold nearly 750,000 copies the first year alone — without advertising. But ask Jonah Davenport, father of a 2-year old, if he’s ever read Dr. Spock, and the Washington, D.C., resident can scarcely stifle a guffaw.

“Naah,” says Mr. Davenport, 38, an early childhood education teacher.

He is seconded, somewhat, by Tricia Flock, 36, of McCandless.

“I’ve heard of him,” the mother of a 2-year-old and a 4-month-old says of Dr. Spock, “but I didn’t think he was for me. He sounded as though he’d be somewhat outdated.”

What about Penelope Leach and T. Berry Brazelton, the popular parenting authorities of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s? “I’m afraid not,” she said.

All three still have books in print — a revised edition of Dr. Spock’s tome is coming out in 2011, and his legacy lives on in The Dr. Spock Co. and its Web site, Drspock.com. But his influence, and that of Drs. Leach and Brazelton, has clearly faded as a new generation of parents grapples with the age-old questions of how to soothe a baby’s crying, whether to bottle feed or breast-feed and how to handle tantrums.

If anything, it’s the era of Too Much Information, a lot of it conflicting — and not just from the hundreds of books, Web sites and even cell phone applications that distract restless toddlers. A recent New York Times piece highlighted the burgeoning popularity among parents of dog trainer Cesar Millan, a.k.a. “the dog whisperer” — use dog training concepts to raise your kid — and Time magazine’s Nov. 20 cover story focused on “The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting” with the pendulum swinging toward “slow parenting” and other less fraught ways of bringing up baby.

“Some days I think I’m doing everything right, and some days I have no clue,” said Ms. Flock, who notes that at a bimonthly gathering of preschool mothers at Northway Community Church, “we talk a lot about what we should or should not be doing. Should you do baby sign language or not? Should we spank or not spank? There are just so many people out there saying you should do this, you should do that, it makes you really nervous sometimes.”

Who’s to blame for this cacophony of confusion? Who else but baby boomers, driven, obsessed, hungry for information about their-children-as-projects, even as mothers flooded the workplace and families moved around the country, cutting themselves off from relatives and longtime neighbors who would have been an extra pair of hands or a soothing voice in times of stress.

“One of the big shifts in the last generation was the atomization of the nuclear family, which means we are cut off from age old wisdom of mums and grandparents to tap into,” notes Carl Honoré author of 2004’s “In Praise of Slowness,” and of a new book “Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting.”

And if anything, he contends, the books that promise to fill that void end up making parents even more unsettled.

“I’m not against advice, it’s useful to have it, but we’ve become advice junkies,” Mr. Honoré said in an interview from his London home, “constantly searching for the guru of the day and the expert of the moment before deciding what to do, rather than looking at our own experiences and relying on the people around us.”

Anxiety over child rearing has been with us since the dawn of the industrial age, writes Ann Hulbert in her 2003 book “Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children.” The pendulum, she adds, has always swung from chilly to warm and fuzzy: In the 1920s and ’30s, behavioral scientist John Broadus Watson warned parents not to hug their children too much; Dr. Spock told postwar parents not only to hug them, but to “trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”

As late last century’s culture wars intensified, child-rearing became almost politicized, with attachment-parenting-bonding guru William Sears on one end of the spectrum and strict disciplinarians John Rosemond and James Dobson on the other.

The notion of one omniscient voice, however, seems as last century as Walter Cronkite.

“I couldn’t really say which books are most popular among my friends. They all read different things. I also really like two Web sites — but I can’t remember their names,” added Christine Liberati, 32, of Ben Avon, with a laugh. Ms. Liberati, the mother of a 6-month-old, relied on “What to Expect the First Year,” by Heidi Murkoff, which leads the Barnes & Noble list in the infant and toddler category.

The rising rock star these days, however, seems to be Dr. Harvey Karp, a Los Angeles pediatrician and author of “The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer.” After his book came out in 2002, devotees (Madonna, Pierce Brosnan among others) dubbed him the “baby whisperer” because of his ability to calm a screaming infant by administering the “Five S’s”: swaddling, positioning the baby on his stomach or side, making shushing sounds similar to those in utero, swinging the baby and having him suck on a pacifier or breast.

Today, Dr. Karp is the go-to guru for parents in much the same way Drs. Spock, Brazelton or Leach once were. But while Dr. Brazelton’s “Touchpoints” focused on a child’s emotional development and Dr. Leach’s “Your Baby and Child” with the minutiae of daily child rearing, Dr. Karp’s book is about a single idea: If you can sooth a crying baby, the rest will flow from there, making a parent’s job easier.

He links baby crying and parental fatigue to a host of ills, from postpartum depression, breast-feeding failure, sudden infant death syndrome, shaken baby syndrome and child abuse.

For the typically overprotective, perennially worried, “helicopter” parent, his message resonates.

“It gave me something as a father to do,” said Mr. Davenport, the early childhood education teacher in Washington, who is a big fan of the book.

“There were these five mechanical steps that you follow in a pretty particular way, and they worked. Plus the information jibed with my understanding of child development.”

Dr. Karp says his method comes as a relief to parents, who today are as project-driven as their baby boomer moms and dads were. “It’s ‘do this and this and this and you will succeed,’ ” he said in a phone interview from his Los Angeles office. “People today don’t have the support network they once had, and there’s this myth that they’re supposed to automatically know how to do it without that extended family support. Parents need to cut themselves some slack.”

Dr. Karp’s fan base is largely the professional, well-educated, middle-to- upper-middle-class demographic, but his methods are being taught by childhood educators and lactation consultants to low-income mothers who might otherwise not have the time or resources to seek out his books or other trendy tomes on child rearing.

In Pennsylvania in 2007, Dr. Karp was brought in to train 250 staffers in the Women Infants and Children program, who in turn teach their clients his methods because it increases the duration of breast-feeding. “If the infant was fussy, mothers would think they weren’t getting enough to eat,” noted Wanda Godar, a spokeswoman for the state’s Bureau of Family Health, which administers the program. “This definitely helps.”

The state’s Department of Public Welfare has also funded a pilot project in Fayette County, one of the poorest in the state, where nurses pay home visits to at-risk pregnant women and new mothers, using his DVD and a portable DVD player.

“Our babies don’t cry as much, and the parents don’t become as upset,” said Janet Debolt, director of the county’s Nurse-Family Partnership.

Dr. Todd Wolynn, a pediatrician based in Pleasant Hills and Squirrel Hill, is teaching Dr. Karp’s methods to his patients and to expectant mothers at West Penn Hospital. He’s hopeful the five “S’s” will catch on across the socioeconomic spectrum — much in the way that Dr. Spock appealed to a broad range of Americans.

“People 40 and over know Dr. Spock, and those under that age probably don’t,” Dr. Wolynn said. “Harvey has a great thing going.”

Even so, new fashions in parenting will continue to unfold, and new experts will recycle old ideas to new parents. In fact, the backlash against over parenting, touted as “news” in Time, actually began brewing back in 1990, when the term “helicopter parent” was first coined by pediatrician Foster W. Cline.

Ultimately, parents struggle to either emulate their own upbringing, or reject it, asserts Mr. Davenport.

“No matter what we read, when we get stressed, we’re going to parent the way we were parented,” he said. “We know that in our bones, because it was what we experienced.”

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• How the baby books rank, see Page A-14.

Within days of being born, babies cry in a way that reflects the language spoken by their parents.

In a study of French and German newborns, researchers with the Max Planck Society in Germany found clear differences in the tone and pitch of the babies’ cries. The French babies started low in pitch and then went higher, while the German ones did the opposite, starting high and then falling lower. According to the researchers, those modulations reflect the melody patterns typical of fluent speakers of each language.

According to Angela Friederici, one of the authors of the study, which was recently published in the journal Current Biology, babies in the last trimester of development in utero respond to noise and can sense the mother’s voice. “The sense of hearing is the first sensory system that develops,” she said, but because amniotic fluid muffles sounds, “what gets through are primarily the melodies and intonation of the respective language.”

In French, she said, a lot of words have the stress at the end, so that the intonation rises, while German is mostly the opposite. She added that “our results generalize to other languages with a clear stress pattern.

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