Well known New Zealand Baby Whisperer, Sharlene Poole, has compiled her hints for raising happy, contented babies in this comprehensive guide to baby’s first year- Baby Whispering.
I’m liking
That this is thorough, New Zealand-based advice in a guide that is well-indexed.
Each section is well organised – it has a little on the basic, most important things to know at each stage, and then goes onto typical routines for each stage, a bit about play and things to do with babies at different stages, and something about what the baby would normally be eating at that stage.
Here’s a good sentence from the Afterword that I think sums up the book and its approach: “There are many books out there that can confuse parents. Confidence is what we all need to develop and instil in our children for their future, and our confidence as parents comes from how we are supported, loved and nurtured when our babies arrive into the world”.
Things that made me go hmmmm
Almost half of the book focuses on the first three weeks. Therefore, I think the book is best suited to new parents and for them to read a lot of it before baby comes, as chances are those first three weeks won’t allow a lot of opportunity for perusing the pages. If your baby is well past this stage, the book still has some relevant parts but they are much briefer.
This is not so much a negative as a further endorsement. Before having my son, I had read that people had found Sharlene Poole’s Baby Whispering DVD an absolute must-have. The book contains a lot more comprehensive information than the DVD, but the great benefit of the DVD is seeing for yourself how to wind a baby correctly, how to settle them into a bed effectively, how to bath etc. – If you are having your first baby, and don’t have a lot of experiences with babies to date, it can be easier to remember the information you have seen beforehand than look up a guidebook – so check out Sharlene’s DVD. I think the two are complementary though.
Many times in trawling pages on the web I have heard people say ‘always remember, most of the baby whisperers don’t have children.’ I don’t think this makes their work discreditable, if anything, Sharlene Poole has a very strong background in what she is doing. But no one knows exactly what to do with their baby from the pages of a book – your baby knows best and we need to trust our children to communicate with us. Some of this advice comes out in the book – i.e. just spend the first few weeks getting to know your baby, cuddling and spending time with them in your arms, don’t stress about the little things and don’t try too hard to suss out the whys and hows of your precious bundle!
The conclusion
I think in our era of raising children, getting answers to questions can be a minefield – online advice runs the full gammit of what is and isn’t acceptable, and listening to family and friends tell you what worked for them can drive you batty. For this reason, I think having a book like this to hand can be a good thing. However, you are probably best to consider your own parenting style and beliefs before going down this route. If your philosophy aligns mostly with the benefits of routine, ‘starting as you mean to go on’, teaching a bit of self settling to sleep etc. then this book is fairly non-judgemental and will suit you well.
It is published by Penguin Group and retails for approximately $40.00.
