Product Description

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.'

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-25
• Original language: English
• 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

Review
'Miracles are her business', Jodie Foster

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

No-one ever said it would be E.A.S.Y.....o hang on, yes they did!
If you had asked me to rate this book when my first son was a year old, they would have had to invent a new system. It was easily an eleven out of ten. He thrived on it, it worked, we all loved it.

Then my daughter came in to the world with a very different view of things and suddenly, my tried and tested E.A.S.Y. arsenal was laid to waste. She didnt sleep, she ate all the time, she cried and cried....where the pages telling you waht to do when you were so fatigued and cross with your newborn that you feared what you might do!?!

We were following the guidelines - we were doing the stuff - she just didnt like it, and I had neglected to take her opinions in to account!

In the end, I relaxed and gave myself a break - which is actually something Tracy Hogg recommends you do regularly, and I stopped trying to make my baby fit with sometihing that had worked so well before.

I re-read it from a fresh perspective and once again, I found things that were useful. but with a more challenging baby, there are still some glaring ommissions. I wish Tracy would describe the crying that can go on as something more than "fussing".

When your baby can scream itself purple in under five minutes, and the only thing that works for both of you is a cuddle, then there is no mileage in continuing the crying, this is the stuff of nightmares.

There is definitely an argument for delaying some of the tactics used until you and your baby are ready, and not worrying about "bad habits". I wasted a lot of the first few months imaginging Tracy standing over me with a disapproving look as I guiltily administered the dummy or the breast to get my baby to sleep. She is now 6 months old and none of those props are required, so all of that stress was for nothing.

I would still recommend this book for the top tips on breastfeeding, and the common sense approach to most baby related problems. I would just add the caveat that if your baby screams and E.A.S.Y doesnt seem to be working - its time to put the book down and accept that sometimes these formulaic approaches need a bit more flexibility. It does not mean your baby or you are broken!

Wet and impractical (especially for sleep problems)
Brought this as a contrast to the Gina Ford "contented baby", which my wife and I found way too inflexible - but sadly it was far too much the other way.

In particular I would not recommend this book's approach to solving baby sleep problems, and in our case I am pretty sure it made things worse. For this usage I would very strongly instead recommend the much more authoritative and factually-based book by Dr Furber Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems - which sorted us out within a week.

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!!!!!