Rating: 
Summary: False Hope
Review: All the wondersful stories in this book gave us hope that we too could have a sleeping baby. It didn't work for us.
Rating: 
Summary: Healthy Sleep means Happy Family
Review: I have many friends who bump children's bedtimes by a couple of hours so the parents can spend time with the children. Understandably, family time is valuable when so much of our day is spent apart. We even fell into that trap with our second child. Our older child was a sleep king. We had read this book when he was an infant, and helped him sleep by himself, on his schedule. This meant that he was either awake and happy or sleeping. We rarely had a grumpy child. Unfortunately, we got a little lazy with our second child, and bedtimes kept sliding later and later. We came up with all sorts of reasons, but the bottom line is that our 5 year old was not getting the sleep he needed and letting us know it. He was frequently grumpy and difficult to deal with. The whole family suffered when he behaved this way. As a last resort we again cracked down on bedtimes. He now goes to bed when he is tired (about 2 hours earlier), sleeps 11-12 hours a night and is a changed child. The whole family is happier.
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE!!!
Review: We bought this book hoping to find a sensible way to get our son to nap. The book gives no real solutions for sleep problems. The author advocates letting your baby cry for at least an hour (although he admits he used to recommend several hours) and things like if your baby cries until he throws up don't help him or clean him up - just let him continue to cry and lay in vomit. I believe some may call that child neglect! The other great idea he has is putting your baby to sleep very early - for example 6PM even if that means the parents don't see him at all that night. We feel that sleep is important to a baby, but so is being with his family. The author also recommends leaving your child with a sitter any time you will be out during a nap or bed time (like after 6:30)or to stay in all the time. As parents who actually love our child and like to be around him and who also sometimes like to leave the house, we found this to be absurd advice. Please don't follow these horrible ideas for your baby.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of crying involved
Review: Here's a quote from the book "If we place an arbitrary limit on the duration of crying at night, we train our child to cry to that predetermined time. When it is open-ended, the child learns to stop protesting and to fall asleep." Well, sure. Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? Exhaustion and agony work. This requires a hard heart and lots of crying. He also says "We are leaving him alone to forget the expectation to be picked up." We are talking about a BABY here, a baby who deserves and needs to picked up and should expect to be picked up. I'm sorry that I started with this book, I'm glad I moved on to one that is more compassionate and loving: The No-Cry Sleep Solution. A better more peaceful NO CRY way.
Rating: 
Summary: Great information, not for newborns, not a 'quick fix' book
Review: Usually I'm pretty astute and can handle complex information... but after reading several chapters of the book, I just had a hard time finding information to grab on to and USE IMMEDIATELY. I kept thinking, OK, so I understand that healthy sleep habits are important, but WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS BABY!!So, I ended up putting it away for now. When she's older (she's only 3.5 months old now) I'll read it again - it seemed to have good information about naps and the need for sleep as the baby gets older - which could be my problem with this book - I really think its more useful for parents of older babies (6 months plus - maybe older) and toddlers, but I was reading it with a crying 2 week old in my lap. The information in it is good to keep in the back of your mind while you are figuring out your newborn, but it isn't going to do you much good yet. My recommendation is to read the book, but not if you are looking for how to make your 2 week old baby sleep through the night. No book can make that happen (I'm wiser now, and know this). Read it so that you'll know how important sleep is to babies as they get older, so that you'll be prepared to figure out how to help them get it. BTW - our baby started sleeping from 7pm to 7am, at 5 weeks old. We have no idea how, or why, or what we did. If I did, I'd write a book. But, I do know that keeping in mind that naps help the baby sleep at night (which is a major point in this book) helped out.
Rating:
Summary: Very little crying
Review: We started sleep training at 12 weeks. Our son easily adjusted to intervals of wakefulness, which for him were 1 1/2 hours. We have had very little crying EVER. Crying is not the way for children to learn to sleep, but rather it is the parent's responsibility to allow the child to go to sleep before becoming over tired. Our son is a delightful little boy and very curious about the world around him. People comment on how even tempered he is and we declare, he is a well rested baby. Dr. Weissbluth's sleep training method makes the child's need for sleep a parent's priority. In today's fast, hectic world, we need a reminder that children are on their own schedule; and as a parent, it is our duty to protect this schedule. Thank you Dr Weissbluth!
Rating:
Summary: Don't wait till the baby is born - read it now!
Review: I read this book when my daughter was 11 weeks old. She would rarely nap and was erratic in her bedtime sleeping - I thought I just had a baby that would not sleep or nap. I read the book and decided to try the methods simply to disprove them. THEY WORKED! When he said to put the baby down every two hours after being awake I laughed thinking it would never work - she simply was not tired then. I put her down and off she went to sleep like clockwork ... this went on for months until she changed her nap schedule on her own about 6 months old and now takes 2 gresat naps a day. She smailes when she sees her crib and knows its nap time. Being well rested makes her such a happy baby. i have also noticed that she has a long attention span and is not easily frustrated like babies of friends who don't have their children on sleep schedules. the biggest compliant I have seen in the reviews is that it is horrible to let your baby cry. We have had a few crying episodes but they have been few and far between and are always my fault for letting her get overtired which makes it hard for her to calm herself down and go to sleep. As a mother I know her cries and I can tell when she is just mad because she would like to stay up and play, when she is just whining or when there is something wrong - a burp or something uncomfortable on her clothes, etc. Obviously I go to her when I know there is a problem as any mother would. The parents out there who think it's so bad to let the baby cry... I guess you will let the baby play with a knife because they want to and will cry if you take it away. I guess you also will not put the baby into the car seat because the baby doesn't want to be strapped in. It's absurbright? but the thought that you as a parent are not allowed to let them cry a little in order to do what is best for them like sit in the car seat or not chew things that are dangerous, etc. (or be well rested) is a joke. Do you not let your baby get shots because it will hurt? Dr. Weissbluth empowers parents to do what is best for their baby. He gives you the knowledge and agenda to put them on the road to being a healty sleeper. WIthout this guidence I think it would be hard to let the baby cry. This gives you step by step instructions and gives you constant positive affirmations that you are doing the right thing for your baby. we all know it is easier to just go pick up the baby and rock her to sleep rather then let her cry and figure out ON HER OWN how to learn to fall asleep - which is a skill as those of us know who have had babies that could not sleep on their own. Don't listen to those who rip this book apart because they are not secure enough parents to do what's in the best interest of their children. As strong, educated parents we all know the importance of giving our children the tools to learn skills on their own - this skill happens to be sleeping. your baby will wake up as mine does - cooing and talking and jabbering away in her crib because she is well rested and happy! kudos to Dr. Weissbluth!
Rating:
Summary: Enlightening. Also try Genie's ANGELS ALL AROUND
Review: Some helpful advice. Also listen to the soundbite of my absolute favorite lullaby CD- Genie Nilsson's ANGELS ALL AROUND... it has been all I've needed on many nights.
Rating:
Summary: Very insightful
Review: ... I strongly believe that my daughter needs to trust that if she is distressed, that we will respond to help her. Accordingly, I declined to follow Dr. Weissbluth's recommendation to simply let my baby cry without any intervention, all night if neccessary, to teach her to sleep through the night. This is not an acceptable solition for us. However, in reading many parenting books, articles, and magazines, I am of the opinion that no one source can give you all the answers. Some advice may work for you and your child, and some may not. My approach has been to choose what I feel is best for for us, and to use that as a parenting tool. Understanding that, I think this is a wonderfully insightful book. As a first-time parent, I had so many questions! I wondered why my baby wouldn't sleep. Was her experience typical compared with other babies? This book helped me to understand. There were so many "a-ha" moments where Dr. Weissbluth perfectly described what we were going through. Understanding was half the battle. Applying his strategies, I was able to help my daughter develop healthy sleep habits. She now naps just beautifully and she routinely sleeps through the night. Last night, for the first time I put my four-month-old baby in her crib at 7:30 pm. She was sleepy but still awake. I left her in her room and she put herself to sleep. There was not a single tear involved! She slept quite peacefully until 6:00 this morning to eat. I laid her back down after that and she slept until I went in to get her at 7:30. Sometimes she still stirs a bit at night. We have adopted some of the Ferber method to deal with wakings, so I go in and check on her--I speak to her quietly to tell her that it is time to rest--and then I leave her again. She goes right back to sleep without any fussing. In summary, this book has many tools to help both parents and babies. I recommend that you read it and take from it what you feel is best for your family.
Rating:
Summary: The only parenting book you need
Review: This book has helped our family establish terrific sleep habits for both my children. Our 2 year old son goes to sleep every night at 6:30 pm and sleeps until 7:00 a.m. with a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. Our 4-month old daughter has been forming a schedule since 2 months of age - she too goes down early - 5:30 p.m - 6:00 p.m. and wakes for one bottle around mindnight and sleeps until 7:00 am with 2 naps - 9 am and noon. Dr. Weissbluth's book is straightforward and highly effecive. His theories are based on the fact that if you put your baby down" while awake, they will learn to fall asleep on their own- this is the best gift you can give your baby.
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