Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #190 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-25
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

Book Jacket
For every parent, somewhere between the delivery room and arriving home, reality sets in. We have a baby! And rarely are these unique little creatures exactly what their parents expected.

Tracy Hogg has seen it all. With more than 20 years' experience tending some 5,000 babies, she has successfully taught parents how to understand what their babies are trying to tell them. Now parents and babies everywhere can benefit from Tracy's expertise.

In Secrets of the Baby Whisperer she:
*reveals the Know-Your-Baby quiz which will help parents determine what their baby needs
*shows parents how to teach babies to sleep
*advises on feeding, bathing, child-proofing, toy buying and choosing or training a carer.
Reassuring, down to earth and often flying in the face of conventional wisdom, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer promises parents not only a healthier, happier baby but a more relaxed and happy household as well.

Synopsis
Tracy Hogg knows babies. She can calm even the most distressed or difficult infant, because she understands their language. Hence, her clients call her 'The Baby Whisperer'. Her incredible sensitivity and ability to read infants' cries, coos and assorted baby noises quickly earned Tracy the admiration and gratitude of high-profile couples, including a host of celebrities. In this remarkable book, Tracy demystifies the magic she has performed with some five thousand babies. She teaches parents how to work out what kind of baby they have, what kind of mother and father they are, and what kind of parenting plan will work best for them. Believing that babies need to become part of the family - rather than dominate it - she has developed a practical programme that works with infants as young as a day old. Her methods are also applauded by scientists: 'Tracy's is a voice that should be heard. She appears very knowledgeable about modern infant research and has incorporated this to a level parents can understand. In spite of all the baby how-tos on the market, this one will stand out.'

Customer Reviews

made me feel like the worst mother in the world.
I bought this book, hoping to help me with my daughters sleeping, and routine. Instead it made me feel like the worst mother ever. I was trying to do things with her, that made no sense, kept trying to make her sleep all the time, when she shouldn't have been. Such a terrible book, don't buy it, it will confuse you, and make you feel rubbish!!!!!

Not sure where to start
I think this would be an okay book if you felt that you have no idea how to take care of a baby. Like most parenting books. I picked it up after my baby was about 5 months old and found it useless, but I suppose if you had to it start with it might give you a couple of tips. My only advice would be to not take it as gospel and to pick and choose what you want to use and go by your own instinct.

Brilliant book!
I read this book when I had lots of time and was pregnant! It is a very good book and I would recommend it as I bought it off recommendation. I read Baby Whisperer along with Gina Fords Contented Little Baby and I must say that this book is more practical and works along side the baby rather then pushing the baby to do things it doesnt want to do! I still have this book by my bed!