In a past post, Polliwogged contributor Jenn featured the book Baby Massage: The Calming Power of Touch, a wonderful book outlining massage techniques, including illustrations, in an easy to understand format. If you'd like to see some "live" massage to help guide your learning, you’ll want to add BabyBabyOhBaby to your DVD collection.

BabyBabyOhBaby, a Lamaze International Recommended Resource, provides an introduction to infant massage with easy to follow demonstrations and a step-by-step guide organized in chapters, one devoted to each part of the body. I am one who learns by watching others and that's why I love BabyBabyOhBaby; the DVD features easy-to-follow demonstrations and real moms and dads practicing infant massage on their own babies. Another thing I love? BabyBabyOhBaby is packaged in an eco-wallet made of 100% recycled cardboard and printed with 100% vegetable-based inks.

If you’ve been hesitant to try infant massage and feel you need more hands-on training than a book might give you, BabyBabyOhBaby can help teach you - and show you - this ancient art of loving communication between parent and child. Though infant massage is easiest with newborns through pre-crawlers, infants of any age can enjoy the benefits of massage. You can purchase the BabyBabyOhBaby DVD for $23 from Amazon.com. - Emily H.

Towards the end of my pregnancy, a friend recommended that I check out Dunstan Baby Language. This two-DVD set by Priscilla Dunstan aims to teach parents the meaning of five basic baby cries so that they can better respond to baby’s needs. I was a little bit skeptical going in. I read up on reviews on Amazon and there were a wide range of experiences, so I decided to try it out and form my own opinion.

I watched the Dunstan DVDs one week before my baby arrived. My first impression was that the DVDs seemed awfully short. Each of the DVDs lasted barely more than 20 minutes! Also, some of the information in the DVD seemed superfluous. After explaining what each type of cry means, Ms. Dunstan walked through “solutions” with ways to feed the baby, burp the baby, and put the baby to sleep. For the small amount of information, unnecessarily divided on two DVDs, I wondered about the $40 price tag, too.


So, what was my opinion when the new baby arrived? Honestly, the DVDs have not been too helpful. I have been listening for my “nehs” and “ehs” and all the other sounds, but I have been more able to figure out what he wants by thinking about how long it has been since he ate, slept, or had a new diaper. What I did take away from watching these DVDs is that my baby has different cries based on the situation. I can definitely tell a difference between his “I’m hungry” cry and his “My stomach is full of gas and hurts really bad” cry.

The verdict? There are people out there who have found great solutions in this DVD set, but there are also many like me who did not get much help at all, so I cannot recommend it. If you feel this is something you would like to try, you might want to look into whether or not your local library carries it before shelling out the money to buy it for yourself. - Sara I.