Rating: 
Summary: If only I could give it ZERO stars
Review: I can't say anything different than the previous reviwers. This book is written by a child hating sadist! I can't believe this man takes care of children's health for a living. Just goes to show you that your pediatrician is probably absolutely clueless when it comes to what is best for your child.Read Dr. William Sears books instead. There is not phsycological problem with you if you don't want to see your child cry! Even in the movie "Gone With the Wind" Rhett Buttler fires a nanny who tries to make his daughter 'cry it out'. He fires her on the spot! Go back and watch, good daddies care about their babies too, just like good mommies. If your husband tried to blame not having sex on the fact that the baby is in the bed with you, I'd tell him that even if the baby wasn't there you still would feel tired and worn out from a day with no help. Usually when they say it's about sex, it's the husband's way of saying that you're not giving him enough attention. Childish? Yes. Self centered? Yes. Should they feel guilty of wanting to put their own needs ahead of their child's? Yes. If he (and you) really want sex, drop the child off at the grandparents house for the afternoon and have some daylight sex instead of that same old boring 5 minutes right before you fall asleep! An afternoon to yourselves will give the grandparents time to bond with baby and it will give you time to have some real romance and connection. A much better option than kicking your child to the cold where the wolves can eat him (that's what babies instinctivley feel).
Rating: 
Summary: Start early!!!
Review: I agree with other reviews that you must have this book on hand when your child is a newborn - the more time that goes by with your child having poor sleep habits will make it much more difficult to be successful. My daughter had colic so napping was a nightmare but I kept trying and now I have a 1-year old who sleeps 12 hours at night (in her crib) and takes two naps daily (9A-10:30A and 2PM-3:30P). It didn't happen overnight and took daily consistency on our part. I concur with almost everything I read in this book. Email me if you have any questions (wineos@dol.net)
Rating: 
Summary: Worked amazingly well...for our child.
Review: It's our first, so we have only one experience to provide. He's now 3 months old and sleeping through the night -- 7pm to 6am with one wake up around 2am. It's been pretty consistent for a few weeks. I believe parents who adopt the practices of this book EARLY ON will feel a lot less pain than those who do it later. We've been focused on a few basics: 1) getting him down by 9am for the morning nap (this is the pacesetter for the whole day) 2) making sure he doesn't stay awake more than 2 hrs - otherwise the meltdown begins and pretty much will continue throughout 3) being consistent about getting him down -- we used to only put him in crib ONLY when he was completely asleep. We switched early on to putting him in the crib when he was still awake, but in a quiet mood. Either method (supposedly) works, you just have to pick one or the other. 4) finding the right ways to get him to calm down a few minutes before we're going to put him in the crib -- this is the creative part that's probably very different for every baby + parent. 5) trying to maintain that schedule even on vacations, weekends and trips (this is the tough one). We count ourselves lucky that our baby has gone along with this (thus far), but I will say that without this approach we would have definately been in trouble. These basic consistencies mean so much to a creature that is reliant on you to provide clear cues. We're so often tied up with our own emotions and personal reactions, that in truth we're not thinking about them. We have had many friends that are discovering this with their second kids, and they can't believe how much headache they endured with their first. I sympathize with the parents who feel that later 'cry it out' aspects of the approach seem cruel. We haven't hit that bump, but I suspect I will be hard. Again, I can't imagine any approach would work for 2/3rds of the people in the world, so I thing everyone has to use their judgement whether this is working for their child and themselves. An aside - the book is not well written. The editor could have done a far better job helping take what is very valuable content and made it much clearer.
Rating:
Summary: This booked saved us
Review: After 10 months of little sleep for myself and my child, I turned to Dr. Weissbluth's book. It seemed like a drastic approach, and against my instincts, but I tried it. I was told only to do this if I committed to it, 100%. Considering my son was 10 months when I finally tried to sleep train him, I knew it would take some time. After 21 very difficult days, I was able to put my son down for both a nap and bedtime, walk away hearing a yawning baby, and close the door while my child slept soundly. I have a different child now that he knows how to put himself to sleep. To me, it was worth the heartbreaking hours of crying. Now we have a schedule, I have a happy baby because he is always well rested, thanks to committing to this book. For all the people who say this is cruel, I think it is cruel not to make sure your baby is getting enough sleep, assuring his/her optimum health and happiness (and yours!)
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY - We are all sleeping through the night!!
Review: As a first time Mom, I told everyone I knew that I would never ever ever let my child "cry it out" - how cruel!! But after moving my son out of the family bed followed by 2 months of being up every hour all night long, crawling out of my son's room on my hands and knees, and crying from lack of sleep myself, I finally decided to give this old-fashioned method a try. Well, suffice to say I am now a HUGE fan. Our son sleeps for 12 hours at night at 7 1/2 months. He goes down without a peep. Naps were never ever ever his thing. All of a sudden, he's also sleeping 2 - 3 hours a day!!! My mothering life is now even more joyous (if that's possible) and my son is much much more happy and relaxed and able to entertain himself for much longer since he is not so tired. I tried the Sears/No-Cry/Baby Whisperer solutions but they just never ever worked. We are now all resting well thanks to this book - his scientific back-up for his theories (and the results) reassured me that we were right to let him cry it out. I highly recommend it especially if you are at your wit's end. And not for nothing, but most of us "cried it out" in the old days and are no worse off for it. I think a tired baby and tired parents are a lot worse off. We were lucky. Our baby only cried for 20 minutes the first night, 20 the second, 10 the third and 5 the fourth - four nights and we were DONE!! Don't think I didn't cry myself the first two nights, but I could see the change in my son almost immediately, so it made the experience worth it. Granted, had he cried for hours, I may not feel the same way, but this book at the very least gives solid information about baby sleep patterns. I highly recommend the read, even if you disagree with the method.
Rating:
Summary: Sleep...but at what cost?
Review: As a busy mother who craves sleep I was motivated to read this book. I believe that the methods may work but that doesn't make them right. The key to this book is to let your child cry without giving a response (parent does not come to the baby's aid, no matter how long or how hard the baby cries.) I have a hard time justifying letting my baby cry endlessly because his immature sleep patterns disrupt my busy evening. I question the long-term affects of this trauma on the child, and wonder how necessary it is, as a baby's night waking is normal and temporary. I wanted to be a mother, and dealing with night waking is one aspect of parenthood, and luckily, one that passes. I found more loving and gentle methods described in two other sleep books: Nighttime Parenting and The No-Cry Sleep Solution.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Advice
Review: This book has excellent advice for helping you to help your child learn to sleep himself. It's practically been my bible on the subject for both of my kids. You learn that mothers & parents are NOT selfish, horrible people for having physical & emotional needs of their own. Children need to learn sleep habits early on that they will use for the rest of their lives. For example, my neighbors' daughter is now 15 & is our babysitter. Her mother told me that her daughter is constantly amazed how well my kids go to bed for her when she babysits, because they had never, ever taught her (their daughter) to sleep on her own. They had ALWAYS sat with her, rocked her to sleep, patted her to sleep, etc. To this day she often has trouble going to sleep & asks her mother (my neighbor) to come sit on her bed & pat her back so she can sleep. At age 15! Kids do NOT outgrow bad sleep habits! A big key is teaching them good sleep habits very early on. By 6 months both my kids would good to bed early with no trouble at all. Our friends all have been amazed without exception. Letting them cry is not cruel. Before bed they'd been fed, changed, held, cuddled, & had their bedtime routine. They weren't sick or in pain. They were just angry because they wanted to play more, even though they were tired & needed to sleep. There will be many, many more things your kids will cry for in their lives that they don't need. Saying no to them for something they don't need isn't cruel. I'd recommend this book to any parent, especially new ones. I bought it for my newly-pregnant sister-in-law who has often commented how much better our kids go to sleep than any other she has known. A wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: I used this book the most
Review: If I had to pick just one baby book to have this would have been it! It was recommended me to me by several other moms, and it became my bible. Everything Dr. Weissbluth says is dead on and because of his guidance my son is a great sleeper! The thing that convinced me that this book is so accurate is that I could see the sleep changes that Dr. Weissbluth describes in his book happen with my son just when they said he would. Dr Weissbluth describes and guides you through sleep patterns that naturally evolve in babies and children. Once you're aware of what should be happening, you can help it along and have a happy, well-rested child! I would recommend this to any parent that doesn't own it. It addresses sleep disturbances at all ages.
Rating:
Summary: Read others, but be sure to add this book to your collection
Review: As with all subject reading, you gleam the best from various sources to put together a strategy that works for you. When it comes to sleep, this book offered the most practical advice and detailed instructions. The most important thing I took away is that "sleep is learned"; it is not innate. Your job as a parent is to create an environment in which your child can learn how to sleep--and the author tries to give you the tools to create that environment. I also liked the book b/c it's based on biology and independent research across cultures. Did you know all healthy babies tend to fall into the same nap patterns at specific ages? That the 4 month infant brain mimics the adult brain chemical levels (seratonin?) making "through the night sleep" biologically possible? That the morning nap goes away after the first year? This book is not based on "feel good" techniques--which, surely will work, with more time--but seem to be more about making the parents feel good about not feeling guilty. What a child wants at bedtime--to stay up with you--is not necessarily what he needs. The authors intent is not to let a child cry inconsolably, but do try to give them time to teach themselves how to sooth themselves to sleep independent of you. Keep in mind, the author is a pediatrician who specializes in sleep and is a father of four--so he's experienced things first-hand. But he's also prob seen the worst cases of sleep deprevation on children--facial ticks, disrupted thought processes, ADD, etc--so he's prob a bit heavy handed on parents on the importance of proper sleep. The book could also be better edited. All in all, if you tend to place more stock in biological explanations over old wives tales, give this book a read. I'm sure you'll take away at least a handful of golden nuggets. I feel my daughter and I are better rested and, as a result, I have more energy and feel I'm a better parent.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Sleep Book I've Read
Review: This was the fourth or fifth sleep book I read for my child. I was desparate because I had a baby that would wake every 2-3 hours around the clock. This book confirmed that it was important for my child's physical and mental health to get some good sleep, and that I wasn't a horrible person for wanting to get some rest myself. I DISAGREE with those people that say that this book is cruel. We didn't follow the instructions to the letter, opting instead to go in and check on our son after 10-15 minutes of crying - but we would not pick him up or talk to him. However, if you read the book carefully, Dr. Weissbluth recommends starting with teaching your baby how to nap, then moving on to teaching them to soothe themselves at night. Those parents that try to start with night sleeping first, or wait until their child is over a year old, will have a much more difficult time because their child has had a longer time to develop bad habits.
Our child was strong willed, and it took him about a month of teaching him to nap first, then teaching him to sleep at night. Again, we didn't let him scream for hours, but used the framework that Dr Weissbluth provided. I think this book was very useful.
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