Book excerpt: The Babysense Secret provides an easy-to-follow method to care for a baby during the first year. It explains how to read a baby's body language and signals, so that parents can know how their baby is feeling and what he wants. They can use this knowledge to guide their baby into a gentle routine which is convenient for the whole family and good for the baby's physical and emotional development. Some of the most common parental concerns in a baby's first year are: • Why is my baby crying? • How can I get my baby to sleep well? • How can I encourage my baby's development? • How can I make some time for myself? The Babysense Secret reveals that the answer to these concerns lies in a baby's senses and signals. At birth, a newborn is bombarded with new sensations that can make him over-stimulated; if parents can regulate his world during the first few months they will find that their baby is calmer and happier. All babies give signals to communicate with their parents-by learning to read these signals, parents can structure a flexible routine around their baby which will be beneficial to both. Babies go through a cycle of different states throughout the day: asleep, drowsy, calm-alert, active-alert, and crying. Parents can tell which state their baby is in from his signals-his body language and facial expressions. A routine can be structured around the states the baby goes through, so that parents aren't trying to get their baby to sleep when he is awake and wants to play. This baby-centric approach is the key to having a child who is happily awake, learning from his world or falling asleep with ease and sleeping peacefully for long stretches. Being able to interpret and respond to a baby's signals will keep him at ease, minimize colic, and provide the best environment for encouraging development. This ebook in PDF format contains at-a-glance charts which will show parents what to do in the middle of the night when their baby is crying inconsolably, and flow diagrams to work out exactly what their baby is trying to tell them, and the best methods to help.