Tara's Diary

‘BabyCalm – A guide for calmer babies & happier parents’ by Sarah Ockwell-Smith

Ok, this review might be a little influenced because I’m a BabyCalm teacher myself. But even if I weren’t, I truly believe this is the best parenting book ever. Why? Because it doesn’t tell you what to do (don’t new parents receive more than enough advice anyway?), but it encourages parents to listen to their own instincts. We’ve got thousands of years of parenting knowledge imprinted in our genes. We know what our babies need. The only advice we need is to trust our own instincts again. So, here is my book review:

BabyCalm, a book written by mum of four and founder of the BabyCalm classes Sarah Ockwell-Smith, is a newly published book for new parents. It has a strong baby-led focus and covers most of the things new parents need to know in the first couple of months. The main topics are: trusting our own maternal instincts, understanding a baby’s needs, calming techniques, an insight into sleep training, what is normal baby sleep and what to do about it, feeding, and when something is wrong. The book ‘BabyCalm’ is very different from most parenting books available in the UK. The most popular books are based on a strict routine-led concept. A strict routine means that the baby is forced into the schedule that is most convenient for mum and dad (i.e. not too many feeds during the day and long stretches of sleep during the night), but happy parents doesn’t necessarily mean that the baby is happy as well. First of all, newborns are happiest when they can adapt to our world in their own pace and order. Secondly, forcing a baby into a routine almost certainly involves crying. Does this make parents really happy? Isn’t it a rather superficial happiness? I know many parents that don’t like these routines but nevertheless follow them, because ‘it needs to be done’. Sarah Ockwell-Smith takes the opposite approach. She explains why it’s best to follow our instincts. Because what our gut feeling is telling us is what our babies actually need. This book is wonderfully comforting and truly leads to happier parents and calmer/happier babies!