Customer Reviews

The Happiest Toddler on the Block with Bonus Spanish Track

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After reading Dr. Harvey Karp's book, "The Happiest Baby on the Block," and watching that DVD - and having great success using his methods with our newborn - I was anxious to read and watch this follow-up volume. I read the book, "The Happiest Toddler on the Block," first, which I recommend, to get the nitty-gritty on his methods and to understand the "whys" behind his methods. It takes awhile to get through the book and have it well absorbed, but it is certainly time well spent since it will save you from three or more years of headaches!

I was so impressed by the book that I decided to buy this DVD in order to see real-life examples of his methods. I was not disappointed. This DVD offers a great overview/review of the book, real-life examples with parents and toddlers, and thoroughly covers the main points (such as "Toddler-ese" and "The Fast Food Rule") as well as most of the side topics (such as "Feeding the Meter" and "Gossiping"). Again, it is time and money well spent since it will help save you from headaches and public embarrassment! And more importantly, you will begin to form a foundation of open communication and mutual trust with your child as you learn to communicate love and respect to him - in his own language - instead of resorting to more violent or forceful forms of parenting. I only wish that Amazon.com would bundle "The Happiest Toddler" book with "The Happiest Toddler" DVD, instead of bundling Dr. Karp's two books together and his two DVDs together. I agree with the other reviewers that you really should read the book, too, to get the most out of what he is teaching here. But everything by Dr. Karp is wonderful, easy-to-understand, highly effective, and trustworthy. His methods are not gimmicky; he really understands kids and you'll understand yours better after learning this material. My daughter is about to turn one and I already connect with her better by using Toddler-ese!

What else would you expect from a friendly pediatrician who always (and I mean ALWAYS) wears blue shirts?!? =)

I am a very busy sometimes anxious parent. This DVD enabled me to get helpful information quickly and painlessly without a lot of reading that often gives me a headache. I am already getting more cooperation from my toddler after just one week of trying these techniques. I also recommend the book itself for more depth as well as a compatible quick-read paperback A-Z compendium of discipline advice for parents of 2-5 year olds called "The Pocket Parent." Keep them handy for quick referral and SANITY SAVERS on those really tough days when you are just about to lose your mind!

The more you watch it the more sense it makes. We have three boys ages 3, 3, and 6. As you begin to put the techniques into practice you observe the change in your child almost right away. At first it feels odd but with practice all these techniques become second nature. The gossiping works like a charm on kids almost any age. The todler-eze helps toddlers as well as older kids to come out of the impasse and save face. Feeding the meter and other delightful and simple methods all contribute to the child's well being and makes the parent/ child relationship richer and a stronger bond, for life.

This DVD is not only informative, it's entertaining as well. The message (using "toddlerese" to connect with your child) was consistently relayed, cohesive and universally appealing. We watched real parents dealing with VERY real kids in the kinds of situations we all experience (fighting over toys, going to bed, etc etc). Frankly, I think this DVD should be packaged with Dr. Karp's book "Happiest Toddler on the Block," as it's imperative to watch and know exactly how to use the method (and to do it without feeling as if you're "teasing" or speaking down to your child). My husband and I have both watched it and are following Dr. Karp's method. Are we happy? You bet. Our 2-year-old's tantrums have gone down at least 75% (both frequency and duration).

The DVD is a great compliment to the book. It's so helpful to see Dr. Karp's techniques in action. However, if you haven't read the book, I think the DVD may leave you with many questions because it doesn't go into nearly as much detail as the book does. So my advice is to buy the book too!

Excellent and refreshing way of looking at the world from how a toddler see's it and then how we as parents can effectively communicate in that toddler world. The fast food repeating technique was especially helpful. My son responded to it immediately, it's not a cure all but very helpful. Also enjoyable to watch, not boring at all which sometime these things can be.

I was very skeptical when I learned about this DVD. I didn't think that something could help eliminate 90% of the tantrums that we had with our 2 year old. To my amazement, after my wife viewed the DVD while I was at work. I came home and watched her use it on my son, and it worked. We've watched the DVD together since then and have worked on using the techniques to suit our needs. I don't typically rate products, but I felt compelled to help others who have struggled finding a solution with their toddlers too.

I really like this video that includes all of the important points from the book.

Toddlerese, and the Fast Food Rule have worked well for gaining the attention of my tantruming 20 month old daughter. I agree with others that the book is too repetitive.

The CD much more to the point and very helpful in teaching more effective communication skills.

For a specific, concise compatible book with hundreds of additional quick read discipline suggestions for parents of toddlers and preschoolers, I also highly recommend THE POCKET PARENT by Gail Reichlin.

Just look up the annoying behavior at hand and come away with fast answers to such behaviors as Anger, Bad Words, Biting, Bedtime and Mealtime Refusals, Sibling Fights, Not Listening, Power Struggles, Manners, Tantrums, Separation Anxiety, Lying and Whining.

If you have a toddler or prescooler, I highly recommend both teaching tools (the DVD and the A-Z book)for your personal library

We used The Happiest Baby on the Block with such success that we got The Happiest Toddler on the Block for our middle child. Our son is a strong willed child that conveniently uses a jibberish to communicate when he wants to be disobedient. We had given up out of frustration! So in a desparation moment ( experiencing a trantrum unlike any other) we incorporated Dr. Karp's techniques of which "playing the boob" is a favorite. Now that we speak on his level, share in his emotion and reward him ( all Dr. Karp tricks) we are friends. He articulates his anger instead of throwing a fit and we have tools to help us prevent the trantrum from happening! We now have a communicative-non jibberish- 3 year old that we can take to the store without incident and that likes to play with Mom and Dad. Again, hats off to Dr. Karp.

As an educator of young children and their families, I was thrilled with Dr. Karp's first book/dvd: The Happiest Baby on the Block. I heard Dr. Karp speak at a conference and was very impressed by his research and theories, and even more by his workable strategies. This one however falls very short in my opinion. I would never suggest to my teachers or parents that they speak Toddlerese (in a very whiney voice to meet the toddler at his level). Although some of us may have done this in desperation and seen that it definitely gets a toddler's attention, I believe along with child development experts (not pediatricians who generally have no training in education or social development beyond what was touched upon in their physiology courses) that modeling the behaviors we want to see is the most respectful and effective way to shape a child's behavior. Matching a child's tantrum with one of your own seems shortsighted . I bet it works wonders in a ten minute office visit though. On the other hand, there are some insightful observations that Dr. Karp makes about toddler minds, but there are much better and more complete sources for this. And you are probably interested in this dvd for dealing with discipline and tantrums. Try books by Magda Gerber, Alfie Kohn or Jane Nelsen for much better approaches.