Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

Overjoyed but exhausted? Perplexed but purring? Then you may just be a new parent. And if you're looking for practical reassurance and advice then Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with your Baby is for you.

Clearly a remarkable person, Tracy Hogg (the "baby whisperer") has an impressive ability to understand and relate to babies. Herself a mother, she is an experienced maternity nurse and has derived her approach from her dealings with countless babies and their families. Forgiving and sympathetic in style, her book is well written, immensely readable and is full of gems and shrewd observations that even the seasoned parent may not have worked out. She emphasises the importance of showing respect to your baby: "Just try to remember that this is a little human being in your arms, a person whose senses are alive, a tiny being who already knows your voice and even what you smell like." And so the parent is instructed to give the newly returned-home baby an explanatory commentary and friendly guided tour of his or her new home.

Those who enjoy personality quizzes will love the Know-Your-Baby Quiz in which you can "zero in" on your baby's type which, according to Ms Hogg could be "Angel", "Textbook", "Touchy", "Spirited" or "Grumpy". She then provides tips on the best way to handle each type of baby. Advocating a structured routine with the acronym EASY (Eat, Activity, Sleep, You) she then demonstrates how it works for the benefit of all the family. The book covers most topics from sex to weaning, but possibly the most helpful, even beautiful, section is where the Baby Whisperer divulges her secrets for interpreting your baby's body language, signals and cries.

If you find The Baby Whisperer helpful, you may well also be interested in Gina Ford's The Contented Little Baby Book, What to Expect: the First Year and the slightly higher brow Babyhood by Penelope Leach. --Rebecca Pickering

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Rubbish - Rated

I bought this to contrast with Gina Ford's ridiculous regimented approach but it's just as bad only at the other end of the scale. The so called E.A.S.Y plan that the book advocates is so laidback it barely exists. I read through the book several times in an attempt to find out more about the E.A.S.Y plan and how to implement it but there is barely any detail at all. I still don't understand what the point is.

I may be being ignorant but this book simply appears to advocate a non existant plan showing varying scenarios of parents but without any solutions. It described some similar circumstances to the ones I found myself in but then just went on to describe other situations without giving advice or offering solutions. It contradicts itself and is very frustrating.

I also found it be almost anti-breastfeeding and patronising - 'no normal baby needs to feed every hour' sweeping statements such as this are not only inaccurate but also ignorant.

Not everything, but some good stuff - Rated
I am not a total convert to The Baby Whisperer, but there is a lot of good stuff in here. As with all such books, there is a lot of opinion here, some of which is irritatingly pompous and if you try to live by it, may leave you feeling stressed and a failure. Having said that, the Eat, Activity, Sleep routine, is a very good starting point (although for the majority of babies this can't be done as early as she suggests) and her six different categories of baby - and how they need to be looked after slightly differently- is a useful way to approach parenting. I also bought Gina Ford's Contented Baby and What to Expect in yout First Year and there is a lot of common ground between these three. If you can, these three are a good balance of different ideas, but if you were after just one book, What to Expect is less opinionated and I have made much more use of it.

The book is back on the shelf! - Rated
I bought this book in the hopes that it will help me resolve the many issues I had and still have with my little one. After reading the whole book within 24 hours of its delivery and trying to implement the changes as it suggested slowly - a new change every three days - I realised that I was going against what my baby wanted.
The baby whisperer suggests listening to your baby and understanding it. Well I listened and my baby likes to fall asleep whilst feeding. The introduction of Easy meant that she fed on waking and on sleeping! Also she wants to fall asleep in her parents' arms - and so would I if I was a little baby and all I knew about the world were my parents! Also I feel that as a society we expect too much of our children. These little things have no head control yet we expect them to self soothe and fall asleep on their own.
I have now come to the sober realisation that if I wanted a baby who will feed on waking, play independently and sleep all by herself I should have adopted an adult. Saying that, there are "normal" adults who are unable to carry out the above tasks independently.
I say just be a parent, hold your child when she wants to be held, rock her to sleep and let her feel you around her all the time. The washing, ironing cleaning etc can all wait for when she is older.

Baby whisperer review - Rated
it is a good guide through the first months of motherhood. Some useful tips and reassurance for new moms.

Mmm it's ok I guess! - Rated
I bought this book a couple of years ago when I had my first child and didnt have a clue what I was doing and I guess it did help a bit. I looked at it again recently when I had my second child and just laughed at some of the stuff it recommended, particularly the section on classifying your newborn into a personality type! But to be fair, I guess you're either a baby book person or you're not and if you are this one is relatively E.A.S.Y. to follow. It isnt so much of a "set" routine as others and is quite flexible around your baby which is good when your baby doesnt conform to the average wake/sleep times (my first child slept 18+ hours a day so the 'Activity' time was non-existent! Not so lucky with child 2!). I think that this book is ok so long as you dont stick to it too rigidly and just dip in and out.