Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
by Marc Weissbluth
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Book Reviews of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Book Review: Scare tactics and no references
Summary: 1 Stars
I was hoping to learn more about children's sleep habits based on actual studies and scientific knowledge, but this book didn't reference any studies. The author is supposed to be a sleep researcher, but it's impossible to tell the difference between his opinion and fact. He insists that sleep is the most important thing, and that if your baby doesn't get enough sleep she will end up ADD, a failure in school, a miserable person, etc. Then he goes on to encourage putting your baby to sleep by any means necessary, including letting her cry for hours. But he provides no scientific evidence for any of these assertions.
In one of the success stories, he quotes a woman who let her baby cry for 59 minutes, at which point the baby fell asleep and she said, "to think, I could have taken that achievement away from him." I think the idea that a baby feels any sense of achievement after being neglected for so long is insane. But even if you don't agree with me, this guy provides no evidence to back up his assertions about sleep. He's just using scare tactics to sell books. Poor sleep deprived parents, don't let this guy scare you into not responding to your babies! Responding to your children when they cry teaches them to be loving, compassionate, and responsive adults. Unless they have a true sleep disorder, they'll end up getting enough sleep over time.
The only useful thing I got out of this book is that if your (very young) baby stays up for more two hours, he or she is probably overtired. I started putting my daughter down for naps every two hours or so, and she became much less fussy. But once she hit six months the two hour rule no longer seemed to apply.
Book Review: This book works!
Summary: 5 Stars
A doctor-friend of mine recommended this to me when my 4 mo. old seemed to suffer a "relapse" in her previously "good" night-time sleep habits. I was at my wits end with the crying when we put her down, waking up several times during the night, etc. In desperation I read this book in one day and immediately put the advice into action. The BIGGEST factor was putting her down early and I mean really early - like 6 pm early. At first, I was riddled with guilt at putting her down that early since my husband and I both work full time and I would get home at 4 and she was in bed by 6 and I felt horrible that I only had two hours with her (the book addresses this parental guilt, too. Her need for quality sleep over-rided my guilt). We always get the same incredulous/cynical reactions from people when we tell them how early she goes to bed - strange looks, "hope it works - haha", etc. However, ever since then, she has slept through the night (10-11+ hours) and there is rarely any crying at bedtime. This also gives my husband and I a chance to cook dinner together, talk, and just enjoy adult time!
I also really appreciated that multiple options are presented. When she would cry, we started with a mix of the console-and-leave method and then transitioned to the let-her-cry-it-out method. All in all, it took about 3 mights and she was down and sleeping with no tears. I wish I would have read this book earlier as there is also great advice on napping. I have recommended this book to anyone I know with a young infant and those that read it can't say enough positive things. It's an easy and fast read and most importantly, IT WORKS!!
Book Review: The book that saved our sanity!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book helped us tremendously just over three years ago and now I'm back to buy another one to give as a gift for a baby shower. Reading some of the other reviews has just confirmed what I was going to say anyway. You must be very disciplined and dedicated to the cause to benefit from this book. If you're going to go into this half hearted don't bother buying the book. I suspect that the people who say "it didn't really work" didn't do exactly as they were told or gave up way too quickly.
In our case, we were desperate by the time my son was four months old and I was willing to try anything. Here's the thing though. . . You can't just try for a week or two and think that's enough trying. You have to stick to it every single day. For us, after about a month we had some results we were pleased with. Today, three years later, our son is a fantastic sleeper and we know without a doubt that it wouldn't be this way if it had not been for this book. In fact, we still refer to it from time to time if a problem arises. The author covers a multitude of sleeping issues from ages 0 - high scool age.
This book saved our sanity and allowed us to actually get some sleep too!! And by the way, the person that wrote a review claming that this author suggested allowing your baby to cry for 3-4 hours is dead wrong. The MOST he suggests letting an OLDER BABY cry is for 1 hour. I highly recommend buying this book. FYI - I don't normally write reviews, but when I came back to buy the book I thought it was important enough to let others know of our success so someone else out there might benefit the way we have.
Book Review: An incredibly helpful book for some (but not for people who don't want to let their kids cry at all)
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is the reason why people think my son (15 months) is such a great sleeper. He IS an excellent sleeper, but needed help getting there.
If you do not believe in letting your child cry from more than 5 minutes, do not bother reading or buying this book. It makes about as much sense as someone who is against co-sleeping reading a Dr. Sears book just to bash it.
That said, this is NOT a "cry it out" book. This book does not prescribe a one size fits all solution, but teaches you to be senstitive to your child's need to sleep. I read this book when my son was 6 months old because he was crying constantly and having a very hard time sleeping when he needed to. The advice in this book caused him to cry less because he finally started getting what he needed. I am convinced if you apply the advice in this book from the beginning of your child's life, there is no need for them ever to cry over lost sleep! It also helps you stay "au courant" with your child's sleep habits as they grow. The only drawback I can think of is that you will start to take your child's sleep VERY seriously, stay home a lot more and risk being judged for your "strict" ways. Let your child's sunny disposition be your best defense against criticism.
Ignore the reactionary reviews unless you are 100% against sleep training. If you think your child could benefit from a little guidance, this is a fantastic choice. Some kids are easy going in the sleep department, and if you are lucky enough to have one, then you probably don't need this book.
4 stars because the editing is terrible.
Book Review: This book is a life-saver!
Summary: 5 Stars
There is probably no more frustrating part of parenting an infant than sleep, and there are experts who give you lots of conflicting advice. What I like best about this book is that is simply carries one simple theme - your child needs sleep! - and gives a variety of suggestions on how to get there. It is organized by age as well, which is really helpful in knowing what to expect. There were a number of times when my daughter would be "off" her schedule, and I would read the book and realize that she was transitioning from three naps to two, or two to one, and that was normal. At four months, for example, my daughter was not going to sleep; I was supposed to go back to work the next week and I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to do it. This book advocates the "cry it out" method (although notes that it is not for everyone and gives alternate suggestions), so I tried it. In the time it took for me to go onto the computer to research the harm I might be doing to my daughter, she fell asleep. For the whole night.
I used this book with both of my children, who are now 7 and 5 and still sleep 10.5 - 12 hours a night, and it is my go-to present for new parents. It was the key to my children's health and my sanity.
Some people are frustrated because it gives a lot of different ideas on how to get to sleep; others don't like it because it seems to lean more to the Ferber camp (I disagree - it simply has a "sleep above all" mantra). If you read it carefully, it will help you to identify the signs of sleepiness and to put your baby down to sleep before he/she gets overtired.