BabyCalm - Book Review

BabyCalm by Sarah Ockwell-Smith
BabyCalm by Sarah Ockwell-Smith


Although I knew of the philosophy behind BabyCalm™ before I read this, I still found it a really pleasant surprise that the opening chapter goes straight into the idea that it is the reader who knows what’s best for her child not the author. I still read on of course, because like most parents, I need to hear that.  We as Mother's face so much criticism, we are bombarded by sensationalist press articles about how we harm our children, and are offered so much well meaning advice from people that think they know better. We are often told that our babies should be independent as soon as possible, that they should sleep through the night, and not be 'pandered to' when they cry. We still need to hear that what we do intuitively (comfort our baby) is the right thing, that we can't spoil our children by holding them too much, or comforting them when they cry. We need to hear that we won't create a 'rod for our backs' by bed-sharing (if thats what we choose) and that feeding on demand is what nature intended - not your baby manipulating you.

In some ways then, this book negates the need to have a parenting book at all, but you probably won't believe that until you have read it! 

The book deals with everything from bonding with your baby, understanding them and trusting your maternal instincts, right through to sleep, feeding, and nurturing yourself. It also comes at parenting from the perspective of what the baby needs for their physical and neurological development (as evidenced by science) as opposed to what the parent should do to it (as proclaimed by some parenting 'expert' who often has no scientific knowledge or kids of their own) which I really like. 


I particularly liked the chapters on parenting around the world, as this illustrates just how alienated from our own true nature that we have become, and how normal it is to keep your baby close to you at all times. In addition to valuing our primal instincts, the book is totally informed by science, giving you further confidence that what you are doing is OK. The book is well organised too - with just enough information in each section it’s easy to read, understand, digest and apply, even if you are in the early weeks of parenting and life is hectic with constant interruptions. 


Perhaps most importantly of all, this book nurtures the MumRepeatedly, throughout the chapters, the reader is reminded to trust their instinct. The author, Sarah Ockwell-Smith, mother of four, actually says publicly that her interest is not in babies at all, but in the emergence of mothers - this really shows through out the book, and it is affirmative as much as it is informative.  I also found it to be therapeutic - over 2 years after my birth, even having written my birth story a couple of times, I found reading the chapter on birth trauma allowed me to peel away another layer of this experience for myself.

For me, this book, along with a brilliant ToddlerCalm™ workshop that I went to in October, was enough to persuade me to train to become a BabyCalm and ToddlerCalm teacher myself. In that sense perhaps I am biased. At the same time, you can hardly have a better recommendation. You can read why I chose BabyCalm here.

This book can be purchased in both electronic kindle format and paperback, from WaterstonesThe Book Depository and Amazon 

Hello, and thanks for stopping by. My name is Emma and I am a lifestyle entrepreneur, writer, teacher, coach and mentor. I am passionate about eating real food, learning, travel and health. I get to spend my days with my amazing son who has chosen to learn from the world rather than at school. We write to share the life we love and to help others create a life they love too.

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