Editorial Review:

Toddlers can drive you bonkers...so adorable and fun one minute...so stubborn and demanding the next! Yet, as unbelievable as it sounds, there is a way to turn the daily stream of "nos" and "don'ts" into "yeses" and hugs...if you know how to speak your toddler's language. In one of the most useful advances in parenting techniques of the past twenty-five years, Dr. Karp reveals that toddlers, with their immature brains and stormy outbursts, should be thought of not as pint-size people but as pintsize...cavemen.
Having noticed that the usual techniques often failed to calm crying toddlers, Dr. Karp discovered that the key to effective communication was to speak to them in their own primitive language. When he did, suddenly he was able to soothe their outbursts almost every time! This amazing success led him to the realization that children between the ages of one and four go through four stages of "evolutionary" growth, each linked to the development of the brain, and each echoing a step in prehistoric humankind's journey to civilization:
· The "Charming Chimp-Child" (12 to 18 months): Wobbles around on two legs, grabs everything in reach, plays a nonstop game of "monkey see monkey do."
· The "Knee-High Neanderthal" (18 to 24 months): Strong-willed, fun-loving, messy, with a vocabulary of about thirty words, the favorites being "no" and "mine."
· The "Clever Caveman" (24 to 36 months):
Just beginning to learn how to share, make friends, take turns, and use the potty.
· The "Versatile Villager" (36 to 48 months): Loves to tell stories, sing songs and dance, while trying hard to behave.
To speak to these children, Dr. Karp has developed two extraordinarily effective techniques:
1) The "fast food" rule--restating what your child has said to make sure you got it right;
2) The four-step rule--using gesture, repetition, simplicity, and tone to help your
irate Stone-Ager be happy again.
Once you've mastered "toddler-ese," you will be ready to apply behavioral techniques specific to each stage of your child's development, such as teaching patience and calm, doing time-outs (and time-ins), praise through "gossiping," and many other strategies. Then all the major challenges of the toddler years--including separation anxiety, sibling rivalry, toilet training, night fears, sleep problems, picky eating, biting and hitting, medicine taking -- can be handled in a way that will make your toddler feel understood. The result: fewer tantrums, less yelling, and, best of all, more happy, loving time for you and your child.
From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

A Suprisingly Good Book! But it requires discernment:

I was pleasantly surprised when picking up Dr. Karp's book. The first section of the book is amusing and written in a humorous tone. Some points may be excessively repeated. If you look at the title of the book it says the book has a co-writer. In other words, these are not Dr. Karp's words verbatim. And perhaps that is where the problems arise.
In the first part you learn about your cave man child, the second part, practical steps to dealing with them. The gem of the book is the simple message, LISTEN... more info

Very disappointing.:

I was so excited about the title of this book but I was terribly disappointed once I began reading. I really could not get past the repeated references to monkey-cave-whatever children. I know I am raising a human being! My child is not "evolving." She is growing and learning. I took this right back to the store.
Better books to read: "Positive Discipline in the First Years", "The First Three Years of Life", and "Raising a Happy, Unspoiled Child."

Great gift:

Gave this to my daughter who has a 2 year old. Seems to be working well. She read the happiest baby on the block which I love to give as a gift to new mothers.

Demeaning to Children:

I admit I've not read the book, so take that as you will. However, after reading all the reviews positive and negative, all the information on this book provided by this site and the first page option, I have come to the conclusion that this book will help a small group of people, but on the whole is not useful. I am almost saddened to see so many positive reviews advocating that one lock their child in their room at night to make them sleep on their own. In the same breath this man insists that we speak... more info

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