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Harvey Karp | |
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Born | 1951 (age 72–73) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Pediatrician |
Harvey Neil Karp, FAAP (born 1951) is an American pediatrician, author, and child development specialist. He is best known for his book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and its accompanying DVD, that use his "5 S's" approach to infant care. [1] He is also the creator of the Snoo, a smart bassinet.
He is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. [2]
From 1982 to 1984 Karp practiced pediatrics with pediatrician Paul Fleiss in Los Angeles, California. [3] He then opened his own practice in Santa Monica, where he continued to see patients until 2005. He was assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine [4] [ better source needed ] from 1989 to 2009, where he served as pediatric liaison to the Child Abuse Team. [5] He appeared as a regular contributor to the Lifetime cable television show Growing Up Together from 1990 to 1992. [6] In 2009, he became an assistant professor of pediatrics at the USC Keck School of Medicine.
Karp is a founding board member of Healthy Child Healthy World, and has served on the advisory boards of the Green Guide, Babycenter.com, Parents, Ser Padres, and American Baby magazines. [2] [ better source needed ]
Karp's infant calming technique is supposed to be based on recreating elements of life in the womb. Human babies, according to Karp, are born less developed than other mammals. Karp calls the first three months of life the "fourth trimester." [7] Karp hypothesizes that all babies are born with a "calming reflex" that quickly relaxes most fussy babies when they are stimulated in a way that resemble sensations that babies experience in the womb. [8] Karp calls the ingredients of his method for soothing young babies the "5 S's": tight swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing, swinging and sucking. [9]
Regarding sleep, Karp recommends nightly swaddling and sound and motion sleep cues to help babies establish a circadian rhythm and to promote infant sleep. [10]
In 2016, Karp's Happiest Baby Inc. launched an internet-connected bassinet called Snoo. [11] [12] The Snoo claims to automate the principles of Happiest Baby on the Block. [13] The device uses sensors to listen for a baby’s cries and adjusts the level of white noise volume and motion of the sway accordingly. [13] The product was designed with Swiss designer Yves Behar. [14]
The device retails for $1,595 in the United States. [15] About half of Snoo users opt to rent the device from Happiest Baby at a cost of around $150 a month. [13]
Ralph Frenken has argued against Karp's recommendation of the use of tight swaddling and the concept of a "calming reflex." The criticism is that the effect of swaddling is not based on reflexes because (1) a releasing stimulus is missing, because swaddling most probably works by the decrease of proprioceptive and tactile stimulation and (2) the reflex response is missing, because any reflex always consists of a movement released by muscles. [16] The child does not move but falls asleep by swaddling. Additionally, no known reflex alters the state of consciousness, but swaddling obviously does. Lactation and breastfeeding expert Nancy Mohrbacher collected several scientific studies which demonstrated negative aspects of swaddling on newborn infants. [17]
In 2010, researchers studied the effects of video instruction concerning swaddling, side positioning, white noise, jiggling, and sucking on parents' ability to calm fussing babies. The results against a control group were statistically insignificant compared to traditional methods. [18]
CBS news reports that "Critics say Karp is riding to fame on the strength of his patients' VIP parents, who include Michelle Pfeiffer, Pierce Brosnan and Madonna. Endorsements from several stars appear on his book jacket and video cover." [19]
Part of the appeal of Karp’s methods for calming babies was that it didn't require any fancy or expensive equipment beyond a blanket. A New York Times article documented how his messaging changed with the creation of the Snoo toward spending money on the device: "Now he was suggesting that, actually, the best way to improve your baby’s sleep required splurging on a sensory bed." [20] A Washington Post article declared the device was a touchstone for privilege due to its prohibitive cost for many parents and that the product "has a way of separating even well-to-do parents into the Snoos and the Snoo-nots." Addressing the criticism of the device's cost, Karp downplayed the expense, stating that the device gives parents a “24-hour caregiver for the cost of 16 cents an hour.” [13]
The high cost of the Snoo has also led to scams in the secondhand market where thieves rent the device on a stolen credit card and resell it to unwitting parents before the company remotely disabled the device. [13]
Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the age of 18. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends people seek pediatric care through the age of 21, but some pediatric subspecialists continue to care for adults up to 25. Worldwide age limits of pediatrics have been trending upward year after year. A medical doctor who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician, or paediatrician. The word pediatrics and its cognates mean "healer of children", derived from the two Greek words: παῖς and ἰατρός. Pediatricians work in clinics, research centers, universities, general hospitals and children's hospitals, including those who practice pediatric subspecialties.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usually occurs during sleep. Typically death occurs between the hours of midnight and 9:00 a.m. There is usually no noise or evidence of struggle. SIDS remains the leading cause of infant mortality in Western countries, constituting half of all post-neonatal deaths.
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. Infant is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term baby. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of other organisms. A newborn is, in colloquial use, an infant who is only hours, days, or up to one month old. In medical contexts, a newborn or neonate is an infant in the first 28 days after birth; the term applies to premature, full term, and postmature infants.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States. It is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, and maintains an office in Washington, D.C. The AAP has published hundreds of policy statements, ranging from advocacy issues to practice recommendations.
Thomas Berry Brazelton was an American pediatrician, author, and the developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Brazelton hosted the cable television program What Every Baby Knows, and wrote a syndicated newspaper column. He wrote more than two hundred scholarly papers and twenty-four books.
Co-sleeping or bed sharing is a practice in which babies and young children sleep close to one or both parents, as opposed to in a separate room. Co-sleeping individuals sleep in sensory proximity to one another, where the individual senses the presence of others. This sensory proximity can either be triggered by touch, smell, taste, or noise. Therefore, the individuals can be a few centimeters away or on the other side of the room and still have an effect on the other. It is standard practice in many parts of the world, and is practiced by a significant minority in countries where cribs are also used.
William Penton Sears, also referred to as Dr. Bill, is an American pediatrician and the author or co-author of parenting books. Sears is a celebrity doctor and has been a guest on various television talk shows. Sears is a proponent of the attachment parenting philosophy and is most well known for authoring The Baby Book, which popularized that style of parenting.
Babywearing is the practice of wearing or carrying a baby in a sling or in another form of carrier. Babywearing has been practiced for millennia around the world. Babywearing is a form of baby transport which can be used for as long as mutually desired, often until toddlerhood and beyond. In the industrialized world, babywearing has gained popularity in recent decades. Part of the reason for this shift is due to the influence of advocates of attachment parenting.
Various methods of transport of children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages, infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks, baskets and bicycle carriers.
The Moro reflex is an infantile reflex that develops between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation and disappears at 3–6 months of age. It is a response to a sudden loss of support and involves three distinct components:
Baby colic, also known as infantile colic, is defined as episodes of crying for more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week, for three weeks in an otherwise healthy child. Often crying occurs in the evening. It typically does not result in long-term problems. The crying can result in frustration of the parents, depression following delivery, excess visits to the doctor, and child abuse.
The Ferber method, or Ferberization, is a technique invented by Richard Ferber to solve infant sleep problems. It involves "sleep-training" children to self-soothe by allowing the child to cry for a predetermined amount of time at intervals before receiving external comfort.
An infant bed is a small bed especially for infants and very young children. Infant beds are a historically recent development intended to contain a child capable of standing. The cage-like design of infant beds restricts the child to the bed. Between one and two years of age, children are able to climb out and are moved to a toddler bed to prevent an injurious fall while escaping the bed.
Swaddling is an ancient practice of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloths so that movement of the limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. Swaddling fell out of favour in the 17th century.
A bassinet, bassinette, or cradle is a bed specifically for babies from birth to about four months. Bassinets are generally designed to work with fixed legs or caster wheels, while cradles are generally designed to provide a rocking or gliding motion. Bassinets and cradles are distinguished from Moses baskets and carry cots, which are designed to be carried and sit directly on the floor or furniture. After four months, babies are often transferred to a crib or cot. In the United States, however, the bedside sleeper is the prevalent option, since they are generally bigger, recommended up to 6 months, and often used up to a year.
On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep is a Christianity-based infant management book written by Gary Ezzo and pediatrician Robert Bucknam in 1993. Baby Wise presents an infant care program which the authors say will cause babies to sleep through the night beginning between seven and nine weeks of age. It emphasizes parental control of the infant's sleep, play and feeding schedule rather than allowing the baby to decide when to eat, play and sleep.
Overactive let-down (OALD) is the forceful ejection of milk from the breast during breastfeeding. In some women it occurs only with the first let-down in a feeding, occasionally women may have multiple strong letdowns during a feeding. OALD can make breastfeeding difficult and can be the source of some breastfeeding complications. It may also be known as hyper milk-ejection. A woman may have OALD in addition to an oversupply of breastmilk. The physical or medical cause of an overactive let-down is still unknown. Whether mothers with OALD have a higher overall milk volume – or a strong reaction to the hormone oxytocin also remains to be seen.
A travel cot is a bed for use by a baby or young child that collapses or folds into a bag for easy carriage. Travel cots are typically much lighter than a standard cot, with soft sides to provide comfort to the baby when sleeping.
A bedside sleeper, also referred to as a sidecar sleeper or bedside bassinet, is a bassinet or baby cot that attaches to the parents' bed, allowing newborns to sleep next to their parents safely. This is a form of safe co-sleeping, and has little risks associated with sudden infant death syndrome, unlike bedsharing. Bedside sleepers are a component of rooming-in, a practice followed in hospitals to keep the baby by the mother's bed, giving her time to establish a stronger bond with her baby.
Newborn care and safety are activities and precautions recommended for new parents or caregivers. It is an educational goal of many hospitals and birthing centers to promote newborn care and safety as parents take their infant home.