Itsy Bitsy Yoga: Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger

This book was ok, but my baby didn't really love the baby yoga. She's 9 months old now, and way past the poses in this book, which bored her within a couple of months. The divine drops really did stop her crying, but then, she wasn't a big cryer anyway, and breastfeeding always stopped her crying too. As for making her sleep well, not a chance. This did absolutely nothing for her sleep, which was great until she began getting teeth at 4 months. I will do yoga with her as she grows up, but real yoga, like my mother did with me on our living room floor starting when I was 3 years old. I don't really know that I would consider what is in this book "yoga" exactly. It may be helpful for some babies to get their bowels going if they're constipated or to relieve wind. Our baby was never constipated so I can't vouch for that, but many of the moves are rather standard for trying to relieve gas in a baby, so that's good. Some babies might love it. I had no idea how the songs went and they were corny so I just made up my own. I would recommend buying this book in case your baby loves it, but I'd buy it used just in case they don't. I think it was also kind of silly, the actual writing and also - BOY were those photos light and small and hard to see - and I have HAWK eyes! However, the basic idea of doing yoga with your little ones is nothing short of wonderful, and as I do yoga at home daily, will certainly bring our little on on board as she grows up. For now, the poses lost whatever bit of interest they had for her months ago. Then again, she never liked to lay down, she prefers to be on the move.

After taking an Itsy Bitsy Yoga class with my baby, I decided to buy the book so that I could learn some additional routines. For the most part, the book is great. However, I think that the author should re-think the "Divine Drops" move recommended on page 54. Following the recommendation in the book, I decided to try this move with my baby when she was fussy. I held her just as the instructions and photo set out and squatted down, obviously hoping for positive results. She was not very happy after the first time, holding her breath and crying a little after. I thought this was perhaps because she was just a little out of sorts that day, so waited a week and tried it again, during another episode of fussiness. Again, this move absolutely terrified my baby! She held her breath and turned bright red, waiting for the dropping to be over. After I stopped, she was absolutely furious, and wouldn't stop crying. I felt so bad to have caused so much discomfort to my little one! After consulting with my Itsy Bitsy Yoga instructor, she was quite sure that I must have been mistaken about the method, saying that this kind of dropping will make them feel like they're falling, and that babies have to be secured closed to their mom's tummy (and for the extra sensitive ones, with their arms down by their side) to keep them from having this sensation. After looking together through the instructions on page 54, she was quite surprised to see that this move was in the book and said it was not that same as what Helen Garabedian teaches to instructors in her workshops. Since trying this form of "divine" dropping, my baby's falling reflex is super sensitive, and even going down the stairs seems to bring back those bad memories. Be careful with this one!

This was a great bonding tool for me as a first-time new mom with my baby. It was our first real learning activity together. My son was born big and continued off the charts growth all through his infancy. He hated tummy time and I was afraid that he wasn't going to develop the muscles needed to crawl and walk. Despite the fact that we didn't do these on a strict schedule (being a new mom while working is hard!), I do think doing these activities helped my son's development into greater comfortable moving, then crawling and then walking. My sister in law does physical therapy with children and was impressed with how well his muscle development progressed from the time he was six months to 1 year old. I don't think it sped up his development or anything, but made it easier on him. It was also extremely rewarding to me to start growing more of a bond with my son, other than purely as his caregiver. I did not expect to get so much out of it myself. I have very limited yoga experience myself (we're talking a couple of online videos over the span of years), so clearly it doesn't need any prior experience to be fulfilling. I highly recommend this!

My boys are 15 months apart. When my second son was born, I was so busy with my older son and doing day to day things that I felt like I wasn't spending enough quality time with my newborn. I had been to a mommy and me yoga class with my older son but with no family in town I wasn't able to have someone watch him while I took my youngest to class. I searched online for books and videos that I could use at home and came across itsy bitsy yoga. It got the best reviews so I gave it a go. We have been doing itsy bitsy yoga for several months now and we love it! It relaxes my baby and me! Not to mention there are poses for dad and big brother to do with us! After reading this book and practicing I felt a lot more connected to my baby and I know that he feels the same way! He starts to smile and coo when we begin and it is the best feeling to have him stare up at me with such bright eyes and feel his body relax by my movements! I would recommend this book to any new mom or any mom that wants to feel more connected to their child and become a more confident mom while doing it!

Bought for my daughter and her baby. Excellent

My husband and I love this book and have been practising the moves in this book with our five month old son since we bought it. He loves doing the moves and we love doing the routines with him. Easy to follow instructions and diagrams. Would highly recommend to others.

WOW! Absolutely amazing book. Arrived yesterday and within 5 minutes of opening it at a random page my daughter and I were laughing together with the 'toes to the nose' pose. Beautifully written, easy to follow and plenty of exercises. Poses are categorised into different series for ease -'good morning', ' developmental', 'happy', 'daddy' and 'sleep well'. My daughter is 10 months old and out of all the books I have bought this is by far our favourite. Wish I had found it sooner - will be buying a second for a pregnant friend!

Good information lovely littl book helped me set up some fun for little folks

Even as a yoga teacher of over 20 years of experience I found it very difficult to follow and gain any benefit to do baby yoga with my daughter and grandchild. Too wordy and not enough directed clear movement.