Baby Help Videos

We have received two videos regarding the behaviors of babies that we have found to be immensely helpful.

(1) Dun.stan Ba.by Lang.uage

This video basically states that there are 5 different cries/sounds that newborns make. It teaches you how to listen and distinguish between those sounds to determine what it is your baby wants.

Gotta tell ya, we LOVED this video. Yeah, the woman is kinda weird when you watch it, but what she says is true. We have applied these principles to Ukulele, and damned if they didn't work! It has helped us distinguish whether she is hungry, tired, needs burped, or whatever. This video is only good for the first few months - so get it early. We received it before Ukulele was born, so we were prepared when she got here. We were able to apply the principles immediately, and saw immediate results. If you check the some of the negative comments on Ama.zon about this video, we personally believe those people did not make a valiant attempt at deciphering the cries and instead wanted to "have it down" instantly. This will not work - it takes a little bit of time to decipher the different cries because they DO sound similar until you get used to it. Keep trying - you WILL get it!

(2) The Hap.piest Baby on the Bl.ock

This video teaches you the 5 S's to calming your baby. It is taught by a pediatrician who applies the principles on the video and shows you how to do them.

Again, we LOVE this video! It indicates that each baby has a *calming* button, and it teaches you how to activate it. We received this video a couple of days after Ukulele arrived home but we did not watch it at that point. Tonight, however, she seemed inconsolable, so we put it in. We applied the techniques - and she IMMEDIATELY calmed down! She has now been snoozing in her bouncy-seat for almost two hours (it's 9:51 eastern time) and she has been awake and fussy since approximately 1:00 this afternoon. Watch this one NOW if you have it and have been putting it off. If you do not have it - go get it. *One thing we did not like.... it does not really address formula fed babies in the Q&A and instead talks a lot about breast-fed babies... which obviously does not apply to most adoptive parents. Overall, however, this does not really matter in the application of the techniques.

*****

As adoptive parents, we have been reading pretty much everything we can get our hands on trying to get a grasp of how to handle a newborn. Both of the above videos were worth more than their purchase price.

If we come across something we find particularly helpful in the adoptive-parent-front, we will try and post our personal review of it and how it helped us or was a waste of time.