Rating: 
Summary: Happy Baby
Review: This book is a must-have for new parents!!! Dr. Weissbluth's sleep philosophy really works! We were skeptical at first but now we can't imagine not following his advice. Our five-month old is a joy -- she is always happy -- because she is so well-rested. The two-hour periods of wakefulness for newborns that he writes about are right on the money! Follow Dr. Weissbluth and you will have a happy baby, too!
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK WAS A GODSEND!
Review: I'll keep it short and sweet: my 2-year old daughter was waking up several times a night -- and waking up Mom & Dad as well -- wanting to sleep with us. After 3 nights of following the advice in this book, she has been sleeping in her bed ALL NIGHT LONG, ever since. Buy it, sleep well.
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE expert and MD/Pediatrican's expertise
Review: Read this book regardless of what your childrearing philosophy is. Whether or not you choose to follow Dr. Weissbluth's advice, you will still gain incredible information on the physiological developments of your child. If nothing else, you will gain an understanding so that you don't need to feel guilty when your 6 week old baby suddenly changes sleeping habits (Dr. Weissbluth explains that a neurological development occurs at this stage, and can cause an abrupt change in sleeping). There are so many books about this subject out there, yet I know of no other that is written by an MD/pediatrician who has been studying infant/child sleep patterns for over 30 years. Now, that's EXPERTISE!People who criticize that this is about crying it out have not read this book. While he does justify that method, it is hardly necessary if you follow his advice. Namely, learn to read your child's body language and make sure he/she gets restful naps. My son goes to bed at night, awake (usually by 6:30 p.m.; Dr. Weissbluth also advocates earlier bedtime) and plays in his crib before falling asleep. I am not lying! I used to nurse him to sleep and didn't think this would be possible. But, Dr. Weissblith is also very supportive of nursing and co-sleeping (even though I have yet to hear of a SINGLE household that has a co-sleeping infant that sleeps un-interrupted through the night.) (Just my opinion) Read this book to gain an understanding of the importance of sleep (possible linkeage to ADD and sleep disorders) and how so many of our traditional methods (driving in car to sleep) are actualy HARMFUL to our children. This book makes sense, is based on hard SCIENCE (references to Harvard studies, among others), and will save you oodles of heartache; especially if you read it before your newborn is born! Teach your baby to love bedtime; you really can!
Rating: 
Summary: Complicated and challenging to read
Review: When you're spending all day taking care of a baby and you're awake all night you are probably like me: too dang tired to read a complicated, scientific book. (Read the Look inside the book pages for a sample) I agreed with about half of what I read, but there is alot in here that I totally disagreed with. The general sleep information is good, but the technique is old-fashioned. My grandmother told me to put my baby in the crib and let her cry herself to sleep, I didn't need this book for that advice, and I don't feel good about that approach. A better choice for modern, gentle sleep ideas is The No-Cry Sleep Solution.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for new parents
Review: Dr. Weissbluth's book is a must have for all new parents. My daughter is 9 months old now and sleeps 12 hours at night and takes 2 1.5 hour naps during the day. My daughter was (and still is) a very fussy/high input child. All she did her first couple of months was cry and breastfeed. I did everthing I could think of to get her to stop crying. I was going crazy! That's when I got Weissbluth's book and read that most newborns can not handle being awake for more than 2 hours. And some can not be awake for more than 1 hour. Well, after reading this, I realized my daughter was trying to tell me she was tired after being up for 1 hour. I put her in her crib and she would cry for a good 10 minutes but then sleep for a solid nap. The information in this book priceless. I have read some sections at least 10 times and everytime I read it, I get something new out of it. Reading his case studies not only made me feel less alone but also provided me with good ideas on how to sleep train my daughter. Although my daughter is still a high input child, she is also an extremely happy child. I get comments all the time on how happy she is. I attribte her happiness to the wonderful sleep schedule she is on and to Dr. Weissbluth. I really can not say enough about this book. I recommend it to all my new mommy friends now.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book before the baby comes!
Review: Very practical information about sleep habits which I found (and still find) very helpful. My son is 22 months old and is a wonderful sleeper (7pm - 7am and naps 1:30-3:00pm) and this book helped us get past some of the little snags like when they he started to stall at bedtime or when he is over tired. Ulitmately you have to go with your gut instincts but this is a great tool to help you out when you just aren't sure what to do.
Rating:
Summary: Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Chlid
Review: My daughter is 3 and 1/2 months old and I read the parts pertaining to her age and my life has completely changed. I have followed the guide as close as we could and we are a complete sucess story. I am so pleased I tell everyone who will listen that this is "The Book". I highly recomend this to everyone!!!Now when my daughter gets older she'll understand that it's for her benefit! Thanks!!!
Rating:
Summary: This book saved our life!
Review: Before this book, I was at the point of declaring our 6-week-old daughter "high needs". She never, ever took naps during the day, spent hours screaming, slept a total of 8 hours out of every 24, wanted to nurse constantly and refused to be put down without hollering. i couldn't ever sleep, put her down, or even bathe or eat...I was a complete wreck. And so was she.
My husband and I made up a sleep chart as the book instructs, and horrified by how little she was sleeping, started the sleep training.
After only 3 days, she was an absolutely CHANGED child. The difference was unbelievable. She became calm, happy, interested in the world, and laughed easily and often. So much for "high needs" -- she was simply exhausted but we hadn't been getting her signals or providing the proper environment for her to sleep. Weissbluth's solutions worked. They worked fast. They worked like magic. They worked permanently.
Now, at a year old, she sleeps for at least 2 hours in the morning, atleast 90 minutes in the afternoon, and a remarkable 14 hours straight each and every night, from 7pm to 9 am (btw...Weissbluth says not to let them sleep this late, but we feel she needs the sleep and stays on schedule regardless). Moreover, she goes to sleep, whether for naps or at night, without any crying at all. A word on the crying issue: lots of parents in these reviews think it's horrible to let your child "cry it out." There's no question that your heart breaks when you hear your child in this state. But Weissbluth advocates not "crying it out" but recognizing the signs of fatigue BEFORE the child gets so exhausted that she cries. He says "perfect timing means no crying." Sounds tricky (it is) but it's also true.
And our daughter did cry when we first started the training...never very long (max 20 minutes). It was terrible, but letting a child cry in order to learn an important skill and get needed sleep is good parenting. I cringed at the couple from NJ who implied that parents who "actually love their child" would never let her cry, keep her awake to spend time with her or take her out rather than stick to her nap schedule (we all love to be with our children, but you wouldn't keep them from eating because you want to be with them...why would you keep them from sleeping? it's just as important!).
It's also important, as Weissbluth says, to understand why your baby is crying, and to recognize the difference between a "protest cry" where nothing's wrong but she just wants you, a tired cry where what she wants is to sleep (i've seen lots of parents misunderstand this cry and keep their child awake), or a cry of distress when something is truly wrong. now when our daughter does cry very very occasionally in the middle of the night, we know that something is truly wrong like she's sick or has gotten tangled in her sheets...and of course we go to her right away.
There's no doubt that this book has made us better, more sensitive parents, because we understand our child better and take great care to give her what she needs to thrive, including lots and lots of sleep as well as love and attention. we're also better rested because of it, and that much more able to devote ourselves fully to her when she's awake. as for her, she's affectionate without being clingy, never ever grumpy or demanding, and so sunny that everyone comments us on it. We have this book to thank, and we're sending it to every new parent we know.
Rating:
Summary: The most uselful book I read!
Review: This book is the most practical & helpful book I read when my now 14-month old was a newborn. She sleeps 13 hours at night and takes 2 1.5 hour naps in the day. Everyone says I am lucky but I attribute much of our success to this book.
Rating:
Summary: I'd give it 10 stars if I could!
Review: Let me suggest that if you read only one single parenting book, make it this one. My neighbor recommended this book to me when my son was 4 months old. He was sleeping through the night, but napping erratically and only in half hour stretches. Within a short time after I read this book, he was taking 2 regular naps of about 1 1/2-2 hours each, and sleeping about 11 hours at night. He is now 10 months old and is still a fantastic sleeper. I buy this book for everyone I know who is having a baby, and recommend it to every parent who will listen. Please don't believe those who say that this is a "cry it out" method. The whole point is to time your child's sleep appropriately, which will prevent the overtiredness that causes the crying in the first place. Give Dr. Weissbluth's method an honest try, and I think you will be thrilled with the results. Happy Sleeping (for the whole family)!
|
