A baby who won’t stop crying is a stressful thing for mama!  That stress can even become dangerous, when an overtired parent, judgment clouded with fatigue, is harsher than intended with a child in an attempt to quiet him.  A good percentage of child abuse happens this way.  So what do we do?  One of the most helpful things we can do is learn (and teach) techniques to help calm crying babies before the crying becomes too overwhelming.

Terry Woodford worked in the music industry for years, with artists/groups such as The Commodores, The Supremes, Hank Williams, Jr., and Alabama.  In 1985, he changed direction a bit, to provide therapeutic music.  His lullaby recordings, with the sound of a human heartbeat in the background, have been proven effective even in NICU nurseries!  They can help your baby at home, too.

The Getting Your Baby to Sleep, Made Easy 2-CD set includes an audiobook and a lullaby CD.  The audiobook walks parents step-by-step through a reasonable, balanced method for calming your baby and teaching him to sleep at night.  It does not involve “crying it out,” nor does it involve holding him all night!  I was a little disappointed with how adamantly Mr. Woodford discouraged babies in parents’ beds.  (Although I absolutely agree that babies need to learn to sleep alone, I also believe it can be a good thing for babies to spend significant portions of the night with mama.  And I do not believe this is inherently dangerous if certain basic precautions are taken.  Nor do I believe, as Mr. Woodford does, that it is bad for mama’s sleep.)  Apart from this one caveat, I found the entire audiobook to be very rational, calm, and encouraging.

The lullaby CD is very soothing.  It includes classic children’s lullabies like Rock-a-Bye-Baby and London Bridge, each with the sound of a human heartbeat in the background.  It’s like listening to lullabies with your head against someone’s chest.  These soothe me!

Other CD’s are also available, including Jesus Loves Me Fast Asleep, which is a collection of Christian children’s songs.

I highly recommend this as a gift for new parents.

Disclosure: Mr. Woodford provided me with copies of the audiobook and two of the CD’s for review and inclusion in the Baby Shower for Jesus.  As always, all opinions are entirely my own.