Honest, short, sweet and scientific, CALMS A Guide to Soothing Your Baby offers parents and professionals a new view of babies and a tool kit for creating family harmony and parent-child connection. Written with compassion and insight into the world of new babies and new parents, this book provides the practical tools parents need to help their babies settle when they are upset and to create deep healthy bonds with their children right from the start. The title CALMS is an acronym standing for an indispensable 5-step process which parents can use to maintain composure during the inevitable stresses and strains encountered in the first weeks of parenting after the birth. The secret method is disclosed in Part One. These steps make good sense and good psychology. The novelty and simplicity of CALMS may startle you. Part two of the book provides an overview of the latest research coming out of the field of prenatal and perinatal psychology and offers new insight into early infant development. Three real life examples of how families are using this method are presented in part three. Finally, part four is an addendum chock full of early parenting resources. This book is the "must have reference" for any new parent, parent-to-be or person working with families during the early years of life. It is the perfect gift for your new client welcome bag, and doulas, midwives, nurses and hospitals are already ordering by the hundreds! This essential guide is a great choice for parenting classes and it makes the perfect shower gift. "I received CALMS just after the birth of my fourth baby and the information has proved invaluable to our whole family. We find ourselves applying the techniques not just for our infant, but for our nine, seven and four year-olds as well. It turns out that what babies want is what we all want; compassion, understanding and patience. Every family new or not should have CALMS readily available." Bernadette, mother of four
Carrie Contey resides in Austin, TX and holds her PhD in prenatal and perinatal psychology from the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute in California. Since 2005 Contey has served on the board of the Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and is recognized internationally in this growing field. She has touched the lives of many practitioners, parents, infants and children with her workshops, seminars, classes, and in her private practice. Contey is committed to providing families and practitioners with compassionate guidance, leading-edge information and effective tools for creating conscious, balanced lives from before conception through childhood and beyond, with the goal being lifelong connection and healthy family lives.
From her work and from her desire to assist families in envisioning and creating the family life they want for themselves, Contey has co-founded the Slow Family Movement which is about "allowing family life to unfold in a way that is joyfully and consciously connected. This means slowing it down, finding comfort in the home, and creating the space to see and honor the family as an entity, while simultaneously keeping sight of each member as a unique and valuable individual."
Contey believes if parents and practitioners are taught from the onset to recognize their own desire for compassion and understanding, they can then meet babies and children in that same place, thereby building lifelong relationships founded in joyful and conscious connection.
