Fourth Trimester Theory
What is the fourth trimster theory?
by the Babble Staff
November 30, 2006
Fourth Trimester Theory
THE BABBLE TAKE
According to the fourth trimester theory, humans are born three months too early. An evolutionary dilemma is presented by our having a head large enough to contain highly evolved brains and a pelvis designed for walking upright. The solution: we're born just mature enough to survive, meaning a newborn is far from ready to meet the world. Dr. Harvey Karp is the author of The Happiest Baby On the Block and the inventor of the fourth trimester theory. He links “the missing trimester” to a whole host of problems common in the first months of a baby's life; colic, anxiety and sleep troubles. For Karp it's simple: babies are unhappy at this age because they miss the womb. Karp feels that instead of trying to teach their newborn about the ways of the world, parents should simply keep their babies snug and happy in a womb-like environment. The environment of the womb, according to Karp's theory is best replicated through the five “S's”: swaddling, holding a baby in a side-stomach position, shushing, swinging, and sucking.
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Excerpt from Dr. Harvey Karp's The Happiest Baby On the Block
"The more I investigated this issue the more it dawned on me that although our culture was advanced in many ways, it was very backwards when it came to understanding the needs of babies! Somehow, somewhere we had taken a wrong turn. I began to realize our ideas about babies' crying had been built upon centuries of myth and misconception." ...read the full article
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iVillage
"Colic, according to Dr. Karp, is actually a sort of "homesickness" for the womb. Why no colic in some cultures? The author says that in certain countries (Bali, for one), babies are given much more of a 'fourth trimester' experience than in the U.S. Dr. Karp's methods are devised to help you do the same by recreating the sensations of the womb."
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Web MD
"It's never too late to make sure you feed your child the healthiest diet possible, even if you don't begin until the 'fourth trimester.' We discussed breastfeeding, your postpartum nutrition, solid foods, and more, when nutritionist Barbara Luke, ScD, MPH, RD, joined us live."
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Contemporary Pediatrics
"In this article, I present a hypothesis to explain colic (what I call the missing fourth trimester); explain a previously unreported neonatal response (the calming reflex) that is a virtual 'off switch' for crying in infants younger than 3 months; and describe five simple techniques that activate this reflex (the five S's)."
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Nine Months
"'When the baby comes out, the true umbilical cord is cut forever yet the baby is still, in that second, a foetus. Just a foetus one second older,' writes Peter Farb in his publication Humankind. [. . .] While many other mammals are born with several survival reflexes and instincts enabling them to stand or run the moment they are born, the human baby begins life with only a few, albeit vital, reflexes to ensure survival."
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