The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems
Good Fit
- Parents whose baby wakes often at night or only sleeps in arms or at the breast
- Families who want a daily routine but not a rigid schedule
- Readers who learn best through real stories and concrete steps
Not a Fit
- Those looking for a book grounded in research and citations
- Already exhausted parents who are sensitive to a blaming tone
- Anyone wanting a short, quick guide: the book runs past 500 pages
The introduction opens with Melinda Blau's first meeting with Tracy Hogg in 1999. A mother with sore nipples is worn out by a baby who wants to feed every hour. Hogg takes the baby and calms it by softly saying «sh… sh» into its ear. Hogg calls herself «a Yorkshire girl» and talks plainly and directly. The scene sets the tone of the whole book: not theory, but fixes that work in the kitchen, in the nursery, at three in the morning.
In the introduction Hogg presents herself as «Mrs. Fix-It» and lays out two key ideas. The first is the «P.C.» principle: patience and consciousness. The second is «accidental parenting», the mistakes parents make without realising it. The examples are familiar: Tommy, rocked to sleep, comes to hate his crib; Elaine tries the bottle only once and gives up; the daughter of Cynthia, a mother obsessed with cleanliness, says «dirty» as her first word. Hogg urges parents not to compete over their babies or join the «Developmental Olympics».
Chapter one explains the E.A.S.Y. routine at the heart of the book: Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your time. Hogg stresses again and again that it is a sequence, not a minute-by-minute schedule. A mother named Merle misreading the word «programme» shows the difference well. Cathy's two children are compared: her older daughter Natalie was an «Angel baby», while one-month-old Carl is a «Touchy baby» who needs a three-hour routine. The chapter includes a tracking chart and separate notes for the 0–3, 3–6 and 6–12 month stages.
Overall: the book works well as something to open at the problem you have. The stories are vivid, the questions concrete, and each age gets its own explanation. Yet the tone sometimes puts parents on trial, and «accidental parenting» comes up often. The American setting (Toys-R-Us, Baby Einstein) is noticeable. There are no scientific references, only the author's experience. It is best read as the voice of an experienced adviser, not as a substitute for a doctor.
- A structure that opens each problem with a real family's story
- Organisation by age group, easy to dip into where needed
- Concrete lists of questions for parents to ask themselves
- Journalist Blau's plain, flowing editing
The same authors' earlier book that first introduced E.A.S.Y.
Another popular hands-on approach to calming a newborn
A classic guide to children's sleep from a paediatrician's perspective
The first chapter explains the E.A.S.Y. routine, the foundation of the book: Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your time. Hogg stresses again and again that this is not a minute-by-minute schedule but a sequence. The chapter includes a tracking chart and separate explanations for the periods of 0–3, 3–6 and 6–12 months.
If you see a problem, write to us. Publisher, author, rights holder, or just a reader — it doesn't matter. If there's something problematic about copyright in this review, if the review's author has broken the site's rules, or if you simply have a suggestion or complaint, hey@kitabdanevar.com. We'd rather resolve this between ourselves than go to court: we review requests within 48 hours and, if needed, correct or fully remove the review.
