A Review of The Blossom Method™-The Revolutionary Way to Communicate With Your Baby from Birth

The Blossom Method™-The Revolutionary Way to Communicate With Your Baby from Birth

When author and relational psychotherapist Vivien Sabel contacted me on twitter to kindly send me her book  The Blossom Method™ – The Revolutionary Way to Communicate With Your Baby from Birth-I was close to having my second child Alexander and thought I’d honestly read enough literature on communicating with babies over the years.

I’m so glad I didn’t shun it. An easy, quick read (helpful with a toddler on the loose), this book has helped me to become more aware of ways I can communicate with my baby, building and harnessing my natural instincts towards my child and helping me to ‘talk’ to him through my body language.

Vivien’s simple advice is to observe, mirror and respond to your baby’s non-verbal clues in order to understand their needs better. Vivien was the third and last child of a non-signing deaf mother which enabled her to recognise the subtleties of non-verbal communication easily. She applied these skills to communicate with her baby daughter Blossom (the method is named after her) who was born in 2004 before spending years researching the topic, observing the way newborns would communicate by ‘eye gaze, tongue-talking, body-talk and simple signing’.

Whiles reading the book, I applied the techniques above and experienced results immediately. When Alexander cried, I would mirror back the crying to him (yes you might feel silly at first but not for long) as he immediately responded by stopping crying. It amazed me. He felt through my mirroring behaviour that I understood his cries and was assured I was going to react accordingly-by feeding him, checking his nappy etc. I request you try this simple mirroring with your baby to test the method. It really works. Again I would mirror his movements, his smiles, his gurgles-more consciously than before and we would ‘talk’ to one another. The joy is immeasurable. At only a few days/weeks old we were truly communicating.

The Blossom Method™  also showed me ways to understand my baby’s visual clues of communication: the meaning of when he sticks his tongue out and the shape he makes with it, and how that translates to his feelings and needs, be it a feed, to empty his bowels or that he was simply feeling irritable. Most importantly my baby always feels understood so I in turn, feel calmer and more prepared as a parent.

Amongst other jewels of communication tools, Vivien also encourages taking note of a gluey smell in a baby’s mouth which can signal s/he is about to be ill. I found this a helpful indicator before Alexander started a cold, helping me to be better prepared to meet his needs when he was unwell.

The book has received great praise featuring in Junior, Practical Parenting, Mother and Baby, Gurgle, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Mirror, The Irish News, The Weekly News, The Portugal News, The Times of India, Hong Kong and all over Europe, as well as Australia and the USA and deservedly so. I agree with the critics that it is truly groundbreaking-my only wish is that I’d discovered it when I’d had my first child, Oliver! I strongly recommend it for all parents and parents to-be.

Thank you Vivien from both Alexander and I.

The Blossom Method™ – The Revolutionary Way to Communicate With Your Baby from Birth.

ISBN: 9780091947538, Published on June 7 2012 by: Vermillion, RRP: £7.99.

Vivien’s website can be viewed here.

You can follow Vivien on Twitter here.