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\u201cI remember a wonderful psychologist was talking about, we shouldn't, should on ourselves. Don't should on yourself. And it's all of what I should do. And there's a big lie for new moms, which is that when the baby is born, you should take care of the baby. You're the best person. You're the mother. There's no one else who's going to take care of your baby in the same way. And of course you should be holding skin to skin, have the opportunity to breastfeed. But there was never a mother who was expected to take care of her baby without the help of her aunt and her grandmother and her sister and things like that. And if you think about it, in the hospital, there's only one place where we make patients take care of other patients,\xa0right?\u201d\nSo says Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block which has Bible-like status in the world of parenting. As a beloved Los Angeles pediatrician, Harvey punctured the mainstream with the 5 S\u2019s\u2014swaddling, shushing, swinging, sucking, and holding the baby on its side\u2014all simple interventions that helped parents help their newborns sleep. This was revolutionary\u2014and certainly changed my trajectory as a new parent, as getting five straight hours instead of three can have a huge impact on your mental health. Harvey then codified his findings into \u201cThe Snoo,\u201d a bassinet that functions as an extra set of hands: It swaddles, swings, shushes, and keeps the baby safely on its back while it sleeps. In today\u2019s conversation we talk about what it would look like to institutionalize support of new parents, what Harvey\u2019s trying to do about this, why it can be so awful, isolating, and hard to have kids, along with the advice most parents frequently seek. I\u2019m lucky to call Harvey a friend and to be able to turn to him over the years\u2014in fact, Sam slept in a prototype Snoo\u2014so I\u2019m thrilled to share some of his wisdom with all of you. Let\u2019s turn to our conversation now.\n\nMORE FROM HARVEY KARP, M.D.:\nThe Happiest Baby on the Block\nThe Happiest Toddler on the Block\nThe Snoo\nFollow Happiest Baby on Instagram\n\nEPISODES IN THE \u201cGROWING UP\u201d SERIES:\nNiobe Way, \u201cThe Critical Need for Deep Connection\u201d\n \nTo learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy\n \n Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices