“Happiest Kid on the Block” star author Harvey Karp for Parents

When Harvey Karp walks through airports, he often finds himself overwhelmed by men he doesn’t know. The Pediatrician has been a rock star for generations of American parents – his bestselling book “Happiest kid in the building” Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, it has become a must-have for millions of parents deep in the trenches of newborns for one simple reason: It demystifies newborns, and tells (often sleep-deprived) readers how to get their babies to sleep.

“Being a pediatrician, you’re part of the family,” says Karp, who also created the popular Snoo, the smart sleeper bed that automatically sleeps baby. “My heart rejoices.”

Originally, the book had a different focus.

“I was going to write a book about colic,” he says, describing frequent and prolonged crying in babies, a condition for which there is no guaranteed cure.

“I told marketers, ‘What do you think about the name of the Carb Colic treatment?’ Very good, right? They said: This is a nice alliteration, but we will never buy it. No one will read this book. They said, Think of a positive name. Something bright and happy.”

Thus a classic game was born.

Karp says of the term, added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary this year, which describes the first three months after a baby is born and adapts to life outside the womb. “You have to understand that your baby is born 3 months prematurely, and that the uterus is a symphony of sounds, every time the mother walks or breathes. Once you understand that, you will realize that putting the baby in a crib amounts to sensory deprivation.” To this end, he created 5S to soothe newborns: swaddle (wrapping the baby firmly in a swaddle blanket, simulating the feeling of the womb); side or stomach position (ideal position for calming the baby); shut up (the noise that all babies are quieted about, as it sounds like a womb); rocking (small, precise movements while supporting the baby’s neck and head); And sucking (lollipop).

Karp is also an author “Happiest little boy on earth,” Follow “Happiest Child”. The happiest child. Karp explains, “The foundation of Little Kids’ book is that little kids aren’t little kids — they’re cavemen.” “They are uncivilized, and they are stubborn.”