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Summary: Absolutely the best advice on helping your child sleep.
Review: I spent 5 years working as a technologist in the field of adult sleep medicine. When my first child came along a few months ago, I realized that I had never learned much about children's sleep. I was already pre-disposed against attachment parenting, because I had seen the parents that came in to our sleep clinic with desperate problems resulting from attachment parenting and sharing a family bed. I read both Ferber's book and Ezzo's "Babywise", and was frustrated by the lack of detailed information on naps, and, in Ezzo's case, the lack of supporting research. I finally picked up Dr Weissbluth's book and found that it was just what I had been looking for! As other reviewers have said, Dr Weissbluth's approach is very balanced. He gives a lot of background research and tells you what works and WHY it works. His recommendations are based on sleep science, and not opinion. He discusses the importance of timing, shows you how to recognize the signs of drowsiness when your child is most likely to go to sleep easily, and gives strategies for soothing your child to sleep. His philosophy is that "perfect timing produces no crying". When I first read that, I thought "yeah, right". I have no problem letting my child cry for 10-15 minutes before he goes to sleep, but I had never had him go right to sleep without some crying. I have only been practicing Dr Weissbluth's strategies for a few days, but have already seen that it really does work! When I get the timing right, the baby drifts off to sleep without a wimper, even though he is awake when I put him in the crib. Whatever your view on letting the baby cry, you will find a strategy in this book that you can live with. Dr Weissbluth gives solutions for a "no cry" approach, a "maybe cry" approach or a "let cry" approach. And he offers two different methods for putting the baby down: whether you want to soothe your baby into a deep sleep before putting him or her down, or you want to put the baby down awake (but drowsy). He also gives a lot of information on the importance of naps, and detailed instructions on helping your child nap at different stages of development. The majority of the book is dedicated to sleep in infants, but there are also chapters on pre-school children and schoolchildren & adolescence. This book is a wealth of information, and I highly recommend it to any parent!
Rating:
Summary: A Big Help
Review: This book convinced me of the importance of getting (and keeping) my baby asleep for his own health (and mine and our family's). It only took about 3 days for me to "train" my baby to sleep. From there on out, he is an "excellent sleeper" and spends most of his waking time smiling, playful and happy.
Rating:
Summary: The best sleep book out there
Review: I bought this book when my twin girls were a month old ( my pediatricians recommendation) and what an amazing help it was. By the time my girls were 4 months they were only waking once for a feeding and soon after that would sleep from 6p - 6am.
They are now 2 years old and wonderful sleepers ( occasional sickness aside). They go to bed at 7p and sleep til 6 or 7am.
they still take one 1 and 1/2 - 2 hour nap and are very pleasant toddlers to be around( most days). I am now expecting another little girl in a month and will be using this book again to help. I recommend it to anyone who wants their child to be well rested and happy.
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Summary: This book is awesome!
Review: This is simply the most helpful sleep book I've ever read. I highly recommend it for anyone who has a newborn baby, or an older baby/child who is having trouble sleeping. The book is very informative, divided into helpful sections, and is easy to read with lots of information without being too simplistic or too weighty. I got this when my first son (whom I'd been trying to "attachment parent") was 11mo and fought sleep at nighttime for hours on end, and didn't nap during the day. Within a month of following Weissbluth, I had a child who napped two times a day, and slept for 12 hours at night. I cringe to think of how much sleep I shortchanged him in his first year by not knowing the necessity of sleep, and how to best encourage a sleeper. I followed this program from the beginning with my next two children and it worked like a charm with no CIO. If nothing else, I'd definitely recommend that everyone read the initial section on sleep and the way sleep works. It really is eye-opening and makes so much sense. Now I have three children who go to bed by 7 at night and sleep the whole night through (they are 3 and under). It certainly freed up my evenings, and made for happier children all around. Great book!
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Summary: A Must have!!
Review: This was by far my favorite on my bookshelf. I used the book as an infomational tool, but didn't follow it to a T. (ie didn't let him cry it out) It was extremely helpful and my son is a WONDERFUL sleeper. He is 8 months old- sleeps 6pm to 6am and naps 2 two hour naps during the day. I followed his advice of making sure he was down for nap afer being awake for two hours-- makes all of the difference in the world! Not letting him get overtired is the key to his good sleep! This book saved me several hours of fighting sleep and I have recommended it to all of my friends that are expecting! I read this and the no cry sleep and I think this was more helpful.
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Summary: Life is grand now
Review: Before my daughter was born my husband and I were completely sold on the Sears night-time parenting philosophy. Well, after seven months of sticking to that method, not only were we exhausted but our baby was too. She had no schedule, fussed constantly, rarely napped, and had extreme difficulty sleeping at night. We found Dr. Weissbluth's book and bought it out of sheer desperation. After reading it and implementing the methods suggested we threw out our Sears book--never to look at it again. A couple of weeks ago my husband and I were actually able to watch a movie together before midnight! Imagine that! Of course children are time consuming and they need lots of love and devotion, but they also need lots of sleep; they are constantly growing. This book helps you to teach your children how to sleep, and how to set healthy limits. I am ecstactic to say that it's been a month since we read the book and our daughter now takes two naps a day, is rarely fussy, the bags undernealth her eyes have disapeared, and she sleeps through the night most nights. I highly recommend this book. This is by far the best book on not just sleeping habits, but on parenting in general that we've read and implemented.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful But a Bit Weighty for a Sleepy Mom
Review: I appreciate the painstaking care Marc Weissbluth took in researching and writing this important guide. It is inclusive and comprehensive. However, at this juncture, I'm really looking for a more pared down approach. I can't help comparing it to "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" which better suits my new-mom needs in its simplicity. Still, there's a wealth of information here, for those who can stay awake long enough to ingest it.
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Summary: Throw out the bath water NOT THE BABY!
Review: Wow! Finally we found the right book after four other attempts! Dr. Weissbluth saved us from more sleepless nights from hell. I guess what really made this book work over the others is that it explains in detail why your child must learn good sleep habits to be a productive little person (and future happy adult). I was finally able to let the baby cry without feeling guilty. It took a month of ugliness but our baby now sleeps from around 7:30 pm until 5 am. That might not sound like a lot BUT he was 10 months old and still waking up to eat every 1.5 to 3 hours. I was crazy and not much fun. Now we are all just too much fun and have enough time for the good stuff in life!
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Summary: Brilliant! Do your family a favor and read this book.
Review: This book really does offer the best solutions to achieving a well-rested family. I read this book while I was pregnant of my first child and followed the given advice carefully. By six weeks our baby was sleeping solidly from 10pm until 6am without feeding or waking in between and by nine weeks he was sleeping from 8pm until 7am without feeding or waking. He was also sleeping well during the day. What I like most about the book is that the solutions it offers take into account the different ideas people have about letting their child cry, using a family bed and nursing. I also love how the solutions take into account the differences in temperament of a child (different solutions for different temperaments)and are tailored to differences in age. What we found to be the most valuable advice is the so-called window of wakefulness. If we applied this limit of one to two hours of wakefulness, we could put our son down for a nap after a short soothing ritual without any crying, fussing or endless soothing efforts. If we missed this time-limit even by a bit, it would take a lot more effort on our side to put him down for a nap and would involve hours of walking the floor with him. To us this is now the "magic window" and we respect it religiously. I can't believe I have never read about this anywhere else and find it to be the key to a happy child and a well-rested family. I also think that Dr. Weissbluth's advice about respecting your childs rest is excellent. It is very luring for any mother to lug ker kids with her in the car and stroller hoping they will get enough rest along the way. I have friends who consistently force their kid's lives around their schedules and the result is exhausted, cranky kids with terrible sleeping habbits. The worst part is that these mothers then complain about their kids being difficult. I agree with Dr. Weissbluth that the best thing (if possible) parents can do is to adapt their lives to the sleeping schedules of their kids. It takes a sacrifice but it is worth it every time we pick up our well-rested, happy child after a nap and we really have this book to thank for it.
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Summary: Great reference--whether you "cry-it-out" or not
Review: This is the only book I've found that gives real and non-biased information about what babies sleep needs are. Despite the fact the author prefers the cry-it-out method for *older* babies, he is not against the family bed, nursing to sleep, or not letting your baby cry. In fact, he really says consistency is the key...if you're going to lie down with your baby and nurse him to sleep at night, do it *every* night. The information is based on research and he does not guilt-trip you like the Sears books do. The most helpful tips I got from this book is that babies need to go to sleep early (6:30 for our little guy) and that naps are all important. Whether or not you feel comfortable letting your baby cry (which I'm not), I recommend picking this up so that you have an idea what kind of sleep your baby needs.
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