Book Review – The Happiest Toddler on the Block – The New Way to Stop the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-Behaved One-to-Four Year Old

The Happiest Toddler on the Block: The New Way to Stop the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-Behaved One- to Four-Year-Old by Harvey Karp
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dr. Karp's book is on point, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. He does an excellent job on first helping you understand why toddlers can be a terror at times, reminding you that their brains are premature. He then presents a few very important methods for dealing with a toddler who is in the midst of a meltdown.. or being flat out unruly. From there, a few chapters are dedicated strictly to enforcing good behaviors, along with how to handle a child who simply will not listen. The final chapter does an excellent job on pulling this all together, citing specific types of meltdowns and how you could use his methodology in the particular scenario's - for example, how to handle when your child won't eat, or cries when you drop them off at daycare in the morning.

What I enjoyed most of this book, however, was that there wasn't anything *new*... I found that my wife and I already performed some of these actions. What was insightful was that we found the context that we should be doing things.. time-outs.. talking to a child when they cry.. using treats for a reward rather than a bribe. The book does a great job of providing context for when, how and why you can help raise a toddler. Well done Dr. Karp!

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