The Happiest Toddler on the Block : How to Eliminate Tantrums and Raise a Patient, Respectful and Cooperative One- to Four-Year-Old: Revised Edition (eBook)
by Harvey Karp, M.D.

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Language: English

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Hardcover (Revised Ed.)
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  The Happiest Toddler on the Block (Paperback - Revised Ed.)
  Published: 2008-08-26
  Publisher: Bantam		$11.98 51 copies from $4.00
 
 
 
Overview

Perfect for expecting parents who want to prepare themselves for the challenging toddler years (which starts around eight months of age), this essential guide, a national bestseller by respected pediatrician and child development expert Dr. Harvey Karp, not only helps reduce tantrums but makes happy kids even happier by boosting patience, cooperation, and self-confidence.

Toddlers can drive you bonkers...so adorable and fun one minute...so stubborn and demanding the next! Yet, as unbelievable as it sounds, there is a way to turn the daily stream of "nos" and "don'ts" into "yeses" and hugs...if you know how to speak your toddler' s language. In one of the most useful advances in parenting techniques of the past twenty-five years, Dr. Karp reveals that toddlers, with their immature brains and stormy outbursts, should be thought of not as pint-size people but as pintsize...cavemen.

Having noticed that the usual techniques often failed to calm crying toddlers, Dr. Karp discovered that the key to effective communication was to speak to them in their own primitive language. When he did, suddenly he was able to soothe their outbursts almost every time! This amazing success led him to the realization that children between the ages of one and four go through four stages of "evolutionary" growth, each linked to the development of the brain, and each echoing a step in prehistoric humankind's journey to civilization:

  • The "Charming Chimp-Child" (12 to 18 months): Wobbles around on two legs, grabs everything in reach, plays a nonstop game of "monkey see monkey do."
  • The "Knee-High Neanderthal" (18 to 24 months): Strong-willed, fun-loving, messy, with a vocabulary of about thirty words, the favorites being "no" and "mine."
  • The "Clever Caveman" (24 to 36 months):
    Just beginning to learn how to share, make friends, take turns, and use the potty.
  • The "Versatile Villager" (36 to 48 months): Loves to tell stories, sing songs and dance, while trying hard to behave.

    To speak to these children, Dr. Karp has developed two extraordinarily effective techniques:
    1) The "fast food" rule--restating what your child has said to make sure you got it right;
    2) The four-step rule--using gesture, repetition, simplicity, and tone to help your
    irate Stone-Ager be happy again.

    Once you've mastered "toddler-ese," you will be ready to apply behavioral techniques specific to each stage of your child' s development, such as teaching patience and calm, doing time-outs (and time-ins), praise through "gossiping," and many other strategies. Then all the major challenges of the toddler years--including separation anxiety, sibling rivalry, toilet training, night fears, sleep problems, picky eating, biting and hitting, medicine taking -- can be handled in a way that will make your toddler feel understood. The result: fewer tantrums, less yelling, and, best of all, more happy, loving time for you and your child.

    From the Hardcover edition.

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    Details
    • ISBN: 9780553905601
    • Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
    • Imprint: Bantam
    • Date: Aug 2008
    • Seller Statement: Sold by Random House, Inc.
     
     
     
    Excerpts

    Chapter One
    "Help! There's a Neanderthal in My Kitchen!"

    "A first step is like watching the history of human civilization from small fishy things to Neanderthals unravel in one instant before your eyes."

    -Anna Quindlen and Nick Kelsh, Naked BabiesMain Points:

    All parents find toddlerhood challenging.

    Parenting tips that work with older children often fail miserably with toddlers.

    As your toddler grows, you are watching five million years of humanity unfold before your very eyes.

    Toddlers pass through four stages of development that echo the evolution of our ancient ancestors.

    Prehistoric Parenting: How to become the perfect ambassador to your little Stone Ager.

    In the Beginning . . .

    Tara, 14 months old, is proud of her newfound ability to walk. She tries to practice it every chance she gets. But right now she's confined to an exam room with me and her mom, Simone. Tara toddles over to the door. "Unghh!" She grunts reaching for the door-knob. "Unghh! Unghh!" She pushes against the closed door. Now she turns a pleading eye to me and starts slapping the door. She wants out!

    Simone responds, "No, sweetheart. I know you want to leave, but we have to stay here a little longer. Let's look at this pretty book."

    Tara's mom has lovingly acknowledged her daughter's feelings (a common parenting tip) and tried a favorite distraction (another good idea). This time, however, her efforts are rewarded with a crumpled red face, an open mouth . . . and . . . a long shrill scream that could shatter glass!

    Taken aback by the tantrum's ferocity, her mom tries to engage her by heartily singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." Tara screams louder. So Simone decides to set a limit. "Tara! No screaming! Shhh. Stop or we'll have to leave, okay?" But by now Tara is in a full-scale meltdown. Embarrassed-and annoyed-Simone offers me an apology and hoists her little volcano over her shoulder; avoiding the stares of the other parents in the waiting room, she hurries to the exit.

    Have you experienced your toddler's first temper tantrum yet?

    Has your child discovered the word "No!"?

    Do you get ambushed by fights that rise out of nowhere?

    Are you mentally exhausted from shouting "Don't pull that!" and "Stop, now!"?

    Parenting a toddler is filled with thrills and simple joys, but for most of us, it's also filled with the most difficult challenges we will encounter until the teen years. (No wonder it's often called "the first adolescence.")

    Loving parents just like you have been scratching their heads for generations, wondering (and asking their pediatricians): What makes toddlers act the way they do? Why are they so unreasonable and tough to discipline?

    I'm going to answer those questions for you. Better yet, I'll show you the way to a calmer toddler and a less-stressed household. But first it helps to see . . . the big picture.

    Ah-ha! A New View of Toddlers

    "A mind once stretched to a new idea never returns to its original size."

    -Oliver Wendell Holmes

    Until recently people mistakenly thought that babies cried because of terrible stomach pain. Then my book The Happiest Baby on the Block came along and revealed that newborns really cry because they need help turning on their "calming reflex." (Ah-ha!)

    With toddlers, the "ah-ha" realization that...

     
     
     
    Creators

    Author: Harvey Karp, M.D.
    Bio:  

    Harvey Karp, M.D., is a nationally renowned pediatrician, child development specialist, and a leading advocate in the field of children's environmental health. He is on the faculty of USC School of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Karp's books and DVDs, The Happiest Baby on the Block, The Happiest Toddler on the Block, and The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep, teach parents his groundbreaking techniques to reduce infant crying, boost sleep, build toddler patience, and stop tantrums. Millions of parents have benefited from his advice, including celebrities such as Madonna, Michelle Pfeiffer, Larry David, Jewel, and Pierce Brosnan. Thousands of specially trained educators teach Happiest Baby classes across America. Dr. Karp's works are translated into more than twenty languages, and their popularity have made him among America's most read and trusted pediatricians.

    For further information, please visit www.happiestbaby.com

     
     
     
    Reviews

    "Karp offers a unique approach to the tantrums, melt-downs and overriding challenges that often accompany the demanding years from one to four.... Soothing and offers new hope and strategies to those who may have given up on making sense of the toddler years." - Publishers Weekly

    "You want help? This is r-e-a-l help! The Happiest Toddler on the Block is one of the smartest parenting books of the past decade. Over and over, parents will find themselves proclaiming, "Thanks, Dr. Karp...Now I get it! " - Kyle Pruett, MD, Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and author of

    "Dr. Karp's approach is terrific...and fun! His book will help parents, grandparents and everyone who cares for toddlers be more effective." - Martin Stein, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, Children's Hospital S

    "Dr. Karp helps parents turn the "terrible" twos into "terrific" twos. His work will revolutionize the way our culture understands toddlers!" - Roni Cohen Leiderman, PhD, Associate Dean, Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies, Nova

    "Dr. Karp has done it again! Parents will find reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block a joyous adventure...with pearls of wisdom waiting for them on every page." - Morris Green, MD, Director, Behavioral Pediatrics, Indiana Unive

     
     
     
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