Baby Whisperer – Tracy Hogg
The Baby Whisperer is a nickname that was given to Tracy Hogg, a British nurse. Tracy made a name for herself as a baby ‘expert’ in the US state of California where she gave advice to many Hollywood stars and cared for more than 5,000 babies. Some of her famous clients were: Jamie Lee Curtis, Calista Flockhart and Jodie Foster. Her fee for 3 weeks as a maternity nurse was more than $15,000.
The nickname was given to Tracy by a Hollywood film producer after the movie the ‘Horse Whisperer’ which was about a race trainer who could communicate with animals. Tracy was said to have a gift when it came to communicating with babies and it was noted that she was able to soothe prickly newborns and their anxious parents. Her message was respect for a baby’s individuality and she believed it was important to have a continual dialogue with a baby.
Tracy’s claim to fame was that she was able to get babies on to a routine and have them sleeping through the night after only 3 weeks. Her approach is a simple one and many critics have said that it was really just common sense. She uses acronyms to describe her approaches such as EASY (Eating, Activity and Sleeping for the baby; the Y stands for time for yourself). She did not favour sleeping with your baby and was quite political on issues such as breast vs. formula. Although Tracy was a lactation consultant I have found that some of information and advice she gave on breastfeeding was inaccurate.
Coming from a family of 9 children, Tracy went on to have two daughters of her own. Tracy died on November 25, 2004 in England of Melanoma. She was 44 years old.
The books Tracy has co written with journalist Melinda Blau are:
- Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby
- Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers
- The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems: Sleeping, Feeding, and Behavior–Beyond the Basics from Infancy Through Toddlerhood