The Adventures of Baby Arthur

by Lincoln



The truth is, I read this book too early. I started reading it when Arthur was around 10 months old and I think he just wasn't ready for most of the techniques in this book. They would work here and there, but I think it was mostly because Arthur was amused at the way I was acting!

Anyway, things have taken a turn in the last few days (He is now 19 months old). At dinner time, Arthur is often struggling to grab and eat out of the family plate. While Grandpa may find this amusing as he pushes the family plate closer, this is not the kind of dining etiquette Liz and I find acceptable. Nevertheless, dinner would sometimes become a struggle as Arthur would ignore his own plate, grab at anything else on the table, and on occasion, end up in a time-out amidst a full-blown tantrum.

So about 3 days ago, I gave the "Fast Food Rule" a try:

As Arthur was struggling to get at the family plate..

Lincoln: Arthur wants more? Arthur wants more?
Arthur: MMMMM.. (nodding yes)
Lincoln: But Arthur has some right there! (pointing to Arthur's bowl)
Arthur: Looks down, sees he DOES have some of what he wants and starts eating it!

This was no fluke! It has worked every time since the first! Therefore, I am commemorating Dr. Karp's genius by writing about it on my 50th blog post (Gongs Crashing!).

The dominant message of the book is communication. Toddlers are like "cavemen" and they need to be "civilized" by us, parents! But to do that, we need to be ambassadors and communicate in a way our toddlers can understand. The Fast Food Rule is about verbalizing what your toddler wants first, so he can see that you understand what he wants. Afterwards, it's your turn to tell him what you want! This also applies to adults doesn't it? When you need to vent, sometimes all you need is someone to listen, empathize and understand how you feel.

The book goes through numerous other techniques for amusing, understanding and communicating with your toddler. It talks about positive reinforcement, "time-ins", acting like a "boob" and much more. Many of these things do not come naturally to me, so having a book like this to point them out is very helpful.

OK, so I only made it through 75% of this book. This read is a bit tougher than Happiest Baby, in that the techniques are not quite as straight forward. Toddlers are tough! It took a bit of time to absorb the material, but the book is well written with good anecdotes. And like I said above, I think I read it too early!

Nevertheless, the message was delivered and I can personally vouch that it works. I'll probably pick the book up and finish it off.. or I'll just get the DVD!

Click here to find out more about the book.

PS: One of my friends, who borrowed my copy of The Happiest Baby, purchased the DVD for his wife so she wouldn't have to read the book. While he vouched for the techniques, he mentioned that Dr. Karp was quite an interesting character in person!

Labels: books, parenting