Rating: 
Summary: Not at all what I expected
Review: This book complicates the whole process.
I also found that the author repeated herself over and over again. I may be sleep deprived, but I am not an idiot.
Rating: 
Summary: Able to sleep, at last!
Review: I had heard the cry-it-out sleep solution's side of the story, but this excellent book came to point in another direction. For me and my wife, this book made a tremendous impact from day one. I hope other parents will be as pleased with it as we were.
Rating: 
Summary: The premise is all wrong
Review: First, let's define the problem: Everyone who is reading this page right now is trying to figure out how best to get their baby to sleep through the night.All books (and this one is no exception) advocate one of two approaches to this problem. Lets call those approaches the "easy way" and the "hard way." This book warns you to beware the easy way (known by attachment parenting fanatics as letting your baby "cry it out") because it MIGHT result in some severe and irreversible psychological trauma to your child. Instead, you should adopt the hard way--keep going to your baby whenever he cries until he is off to college or joins the marines. Nearly every parent out there who is physically and psychically exhausted from a child who won't sleep at night would follow the "easy way" in a heartbeat if they knew that it would not be traumatic for the baby. These are not heartless parents. Far from it. They are loving parents who understand that everyone in the family--mommy, daddy, and baby--need their sleep to survive and develop. And here the not-so-secret" secret which will allow you to toss Pantley's book in the garbage where it belongs: there is absolutely no scientific evidence that permitting your baby to cry for three or four nights (until he learns to associate sleep with conditions that he can create) will result in any psychlogical injury. Anyone who tells you differently is at best ignorant or at worst trying to manipulate your emotions. Babies--just like the rest of us--cry for all sorts of reasons. Mine, for instance, cried at night for her pacifier. She wasn't "hopeless" or "desparate to be held" as Pantley says. In fact, she just got more agitated when we came into the room. She just hadn't yet learned to sleep without her pacifier (a problem, because she would spit it out throughout the night and we would have to keep returning and placing it in her mouth). After two nights of crying, she learned to put herself to sleep without the pacifier. Now, she controls all the conditions for her sleep, and sleeps just like a baby.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: Now that you have read the five star reviews ... get ready for the truth. Run--don't walk--away from this book. Pantley questions the humanity of "experts" (yes, she placed the term in quotes) like Farber and Weissbluth, two pediatricians (AND parents) who have spent dozens of years studying and treating sleep disorders at hospitals like Children's Memorial in Chicago. Instead, we should follow her "gentle" approach, which is backed up by exactly zero clinical research. And don't expert it to work, either, as she admits that two of her four children continued to have sleep problems into their toddler years. What bugged me most about this book was the author's eagerness to manipulate the emotions of new and vulnerable mothers. She claims that anyone who lets their baby cry is heartlesss, and that all crying is bad and must be avoided at all costs (a ludicrous statement--I guess we should all let our kids have all the candy they want if they cry for it). The most appalling and laughable passage in the book suggests that a baby that awakes in the middle of the night "in a mindless terror . . . afire from head to foot with want, with desire . . . ." PLEASE, give me a break. If you are looking for 300 pages of platitudes and guilt-mongering, then this is your book. On the other hand, if you want something with a little bit of science behind it, you will need to look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Less than what I had expected
Review: This book has certainly been brilliantly marketed, but the quality of the book really doesn't warrant the amount of attention that has been lavished on it. Yes, the author has some very sensible things to say about babies and sleep, but it's not anything different from what any good sleep chapter in any baby book would have to say on the subject. (In fact, the AAP baby book has much more solid advice and a lot less fluff, in my opinion.) If you read the excerpts, you'll see what I mean: lots of fluff, not a lot of substance.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and compassionate!
Review: I've read the two popular sleep books by male doctors and was very dissapointed - they don't seem to understand what's in a mother's heart. It's easy for them to advise a parent to let a baby cry from a distance, but so hard to implement it when every pore in your body screams that it's wrong -- when it is the little love of your life who is crying desperately. Ms. Pantley is a mother and a woman. She has had four babies, and she truly understands that while sleep is important, letting your baby cry is impossible for some of us, as it was for her. Her book is an answer to my prayers. It is filled with kind, loving ideas that feel right to me. I am only a week into it but am already seeing improvement in my baby's sleeping, and I am amazed that it is happening without any crying at all. I have also learned so much about my baby's sleep, that I was able to clearly understand why he hasn't been sleeping well. I plan to give this book to every pregnant friend of mine, since my only wish is that I would have bought it sooner.
Rating:
Summary: It really works!!
Review: At 6 months old and still getting up 5-6 times a night, I was looking for any help I could find but totally refused to let my child "cry it out." I read this book in two nights because everything made so much sense to me and I was excited to get started. You have to make a committment to do exactly what the author is telling you to do. I did everything - and it worked!! I would write down everything (when it happened - even during the night) because I wouldn't remember what happened when after getting up several times a night. He is now 14 months old and if I remember correctly he's been sleeping thru the night for probably at least 6 months now!! I think the key for my child was the advice: better naps make for better night time sleep!! He is still taking 2 naps a day. Also, I have him on a pretty strict schedule. This book is great - you won't regret buying it!!
Rating: 
Summary: Many parents will sleep better with this book
Review: This book does a great job of explaining why babies aren't ready to sleep through the night right away -- and what parents can do to gently encourage the process along.
Rating:
Summary: Like the idea...
Review: I like the idea of this book, for my own sanity sake since my baby crying really raises my blood pressure. I bought this when I was severely sleep deprived and my pediatrician was encouraging me to try the Ferber method. At 3 1/2 mos old I thought she was too young for that and searched for this book. I did what it suggested and watched for my baby's sleep pattern. What I noticed it that as they get older they will naturally start to fall into their own pattern. At 7 mos old I decided to start letting her cry more, or rather "fuss it out". I find that she is now crying less and sleeping longer and more soundly and much happier when she is awake. Last night she slept from 6:30pm to 5am! And went back to sleep for her morning nap at 8am (and she has been asleep for over 1 1/2 hrs now)! I am happy to report I am no longer sleep deprived and am able to handle her crying episodes and understand, that all babies cry... even a little.
Rating:
Summary: Sleep has come!
Review: I love this book! My son Cole now sleeps 11-12 hours a night and I am getting a good night's sleep as well! I started reading this book when my baby was 3 months old and have used it as a reference book ever since. We saw results within the first month of trying some of the ideas. Each time we hit a rough spot, I pull out the book and revisit the many ideas provided. He is now 1 year old and sleeping like a true champ. Sure, we still have tough bouts when he is sick, teething or we are out of our familiar surroundings. But, Elizabeth gives so many great ideas to choose from that we have learned to go with the flow and stick to our plan and things move along pretty smoothly. What I love most about this book is the many many ideas that Elizabeth gives you to choose from so that you can figure out which work best for you. Our tried and true is a consistent bedtime routine with soft music. By the time we get to the last part of our routine, my baby is so ready for bed, he puts himself to sleep. And if not, he'll play for a bit, and still fall asleep on his own. It is truly wonderful. The other benefit is that I can share his routine with a caretaker and they have no trouble putting him to sleep. No tears, I just couldn't do the "cry it out" approach. Thank you Elizabeth for all of your wisdom and ideas!!
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