Hush little baby in Boulder, Colorado

‘Happiest Baby’ methods expand their reach in Boulder County

In those anxiety-prone first weeks of new parenthood, Paula Schild often found herself turning to her more-experienced sister-in-law.

“I was constantly calling her, not knowing what to do,” says Schild, 46, who lives west of Boulder.

When Schild’s daughter, Rose, was about 2 months old, her sister-in-law suggested something that changed Schild’s experience of parenting. It was a book called “Happiest Baby on the Block,” by Dr. Harvey Karp, which offered five simple steps to soothe an infant: swaddling, side or stomach position, shushing, swinging and sucking.

With Rose, who had a tendency to startle herself awake just as she was drifting off to sleep, the new techniques were a godsend. The swaddling controlled the startle reflex, allowing Rose to settle peacefully into sleep. Making a shushing noise loudly in her ear also seemed to calm her.

“I’m convinced that (‘Happiest Baby’) helped her become a really good sleeper,” Schild says.

Schild’s good results are apparently so common that Boulder County Public Health is expanding its teaching of the method. Currently, Happiest Baby is taught to the parents of infants with special needs and in the county’s teen parenting program, as well as to workers at child care centers. Longmont-based Xi Epsilon Zeta, a woman’s service sorority, has supplied about 250 swaddling blankets to the program as part of an ongoing service project. This year, Boulder County Public Health will begin offering classes to the public to extend the reach of the program.

“We’re very excited about it,” says Mary Adler, a registered nurse and child health nursing coordinator for the county. “We’re finding it works with our babies. We haven’t had any naysayers.”

The program also is currently being taught at Boulder Community Foothills Hospital.

“For brand-new parents, it’s unbelievable how it works,” says Cindy Varra, a registered nurse and coordinator of childbirth parenting and education at the hospital.

She says one of the most appealing aspects of the program is its simplicity.

“It’s simple. It’s five basic steps that everyone should know,” she says. “It gives parents confidence, because they can quiet their baby in five easy steps.”

Dr. Stephen Fries, a pediatrician at Boulder Medical Center, puts an order in a baby’s chart for parents to watch the video while they’re in the hospital.

He says parents have responded well.

“I think they really like it,” he says. “Parents are just not aware of how to soothe their kids.”

Karp’s method is based on his theory that the first weeks of life should be treated like a fourth trimester of pregnancy, that the best way to calm a baby is to recreate the environment of the womb. Swaddling keeps the baby tightly confined. A side or stomach position is more likely to duplicate the baby’s position in utero. A loud shushing replicates the sound of the mother’s body and blood flow. Swinging or slight jiggling also is womb-like, and allowing a baby to suck on a pacifier mimic finger sucking common to babies inside their mothers.

Dr. Patty Rosquist, a pediatrician at Longmont Clinic, says she recommends the method and even uses it in her practice.

“Developmental pediatricians talk about how a baby’s brain develops so that the stimulatory parts are ahead of the inhibitory parts,” she says. “The mismatch is greatest at six to eight weeks of age. Babies cry and have a very hard time calming themselves down.”

She says a checkup is often the opposite of Happiest Baby.

“I’m opening the blanket. They’ll often start crying,” she says. “I can use those techniques and they calm down.”

Before beginning work at the Longmont Clinic, four years ago, Rosquist worked with children who had been abused and neglected.

“I saw lots of shaken babies, which is one reason why I’m so appreciative of Dr. Karp’s method,” she says. “The peak age for shaken baby syndrome is about 2 months, when babies are at their fussiest. It’s really important that parents have a way to calm a crying baby.”

Adler agrees.

“From a personal and professional standpoint, (I think) it’s one of the better child abuse programs,” she says.

Rosquist, whose children are ages 26 and 23, says the technique can be useful for any parent.

“I remember having a small infant and feeling so exhausted and frustrated,” she says. “We didn’t have many tools before Happiest Baby.”

For Schild, the swaddling was especially useful.

“I would wrap her tighter, put her on her side on my knees, go ‘Shhh’ in her ear, jiggle her a little and she would immediately relax.”

In those early weeks of recovery from pregnancy and sleep deprivation, the technique also gave her something that’s often in short supply for new parents: a feeling of competence.

“It really made me feel successful,” she says. “Babies totally pick up on your anxiety. The more anxious you are, the more anxious they are. (With Happiest Baby), you’re going to relax, and they’re going to relax.

Written by Cindy Sutter, posted on January 2, 2006, at The Daily Camera