Dr. Harvey Karp lays out his argument that fussiness among babies is caused by their early “eviction” from the womb at nine months. He also outlines his prescription, which he calls the “Cuddle Cure” - a five-part recipe for recreating the conditions of life in the womb during a baby’s “fourth trimester”, ie its first three months of life. (The recipe, called the Five S’s, calls for swaddling, side hold, swaying, shhhing, and sucking.)

It’s an engaging and even fun book to read, despite some repetitiveness and somewhat unnecessary “stories from the trenches”. It even includes some bonus tips for new parents that cover topics ranging from proper burping technique to infant massage.

As for the Cuddle Cure itself: I’m finding it rather difficult to master. It seems to work up to a certain point, but not nearly as reliably as the book suggests. I could easily be missing some of the finer points of the technique, though. Most of the advice found here can be found elsewhere, but the writing is engaging and the explanation of why these techniques work (or should work) is very valuable. I’d certainly recommend picking this up, and ideally reading it a month or two before delivery.