cover image 79 Ways to Calm a Crying Baby

79 Ways to Calm a Crying Baby

Diana S. Greene. Pocket Books, $7 (134pp) ISBN 978-0-671-66247-9

Freelance writer Greene's blithe faith that life would continue as usual after her baby's arrival came to an abrupt end with the first wails of her new daughter. In this humorous, sensitive and intelligent manual, Greene shares her hard-won wisdom on the best ways to calm a crying baby. Greene's husband, Mark Hall, a law professor at Arizona State University, explains in the introduction why babies cry and debunks the myth that picking up a bawling infant results in a spoiled child. In the book's six sections, Greene describes the traditional baby-soothing methods, such as tummy and back rubs and singing. She also has some wildly original ideas, among them strapping the baby in an infant seat, securing the seat safely on top of the washer and starting the machine. In a particularly amusing piece, she suggests that a parent bounce gently on a mattress with baby. ``Do this as long as you can stand it,'' she advises, ``which is usually to the point where the room begins to look like a television screen with a loose vertical hold knob.'' Forty line drawings underscore the charming and whimsical text. (Nov.)