Last week I took Nolan to see Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, speak at a local assisted living facility. (I think Dr. Karp’s father is a resident there?) His book is a must-read for soon-to-be or new parents. He believes that babies really need a “fourth trimester” and that emulating the womb is most effective for calming a crying newborn. His methods definitely helped us with Nolan and I’m not surprised that his books and DVDs are so popular.
The presentation was in a long, narrow room at the Atria in Great Neck and was attended by about 40 people, half new moms with infants and half elderly residents. It was an interesting mix! Throughout the presentation, the residents interjected with “When I had my babies…” stories and some pretty funny questions. For me, nothing topped the question about car seats:
Old Biddy: I have a question! My granddaughter is having a baby in a few weeks and the hospital told her that she can’t take her baby home unless she has a car seat! (She seemed horrified by this.)
Dr. Karp: Ok, yes, that’s the law to keep everyone safe.
Old Biddy: When I had babies, we held them in our arms in the car!
Dr. Karp: Yes, that was very common years ago.
Old Biddy: So why does she have to use a car seat?
Dr. Karp went on to gently explain that in a car accident an infant in your arms can become a projectile and babies flying through windshields is generally a bad thing.
Old Biddy (muttering in her displeasure): I don’t know about that. I’ll tell you what it is, I’ll bet the car seat people are in business with the hospitals to make money!
Image via Flickr
The Reluctant Long Islander 
I love Dr Karp! How cool that you got to see him. I hate hearing things from old biddies like this. Perhaps she wants to return to the times when she would have smoked a cigarrette while giving the baby a bottle. Or maybe she has never met a person who has a scarred face from flying through a window as a baby.
That’s very cool that you saw him in person. I’ve seen the Atria in person, as my husband’s grandparents used to live there. I’m used to old people being miserable but you’d think the same people who complain that your kid has no socks on in June would be the same people harping on safety.
So true about the contradictions! “Who needs car seats?? Put a blanket on him it’s 80 degrees out!”
Found your blog from you comment on my ‘sleep training’ post on Ain’t No Mom Jeans 🙂 This post made me laugh…also I am so jealous you got to see Dr. Karp speak! We were totally clueless to the swaddle-shush combo that would come to save our lives before we read his book! Love the blog!
Swaddling saved my life. Getting him to sleep while not being swaddled was another story… It was a nightmare!
Is it any coincidence car seats are made primarily from petroleum products, and is it not obvious the babies are in cahoots with the oil industry? And why dont cars come pre-equiped with baby seats, it’s discriminatory.