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Summary: Finally, Sleep!!
Review: After nine months of dealing with sleepless nights, my wife and I needed help. Rarely would our nine month old would sleep straight through the night. Mostly she would wake 2-3 times an evening. No further explanations needed. We were exhausted. My wife and I BOTH read this book and agreed to try it for a 2 week period. As other readers have indicated, the first night is by far the worst. Our daughter cried for 1 1/2 hours before falling asleep. The only saving grace is that we went in to calm her down according to the book, and knew she was OK. The benefit? Night 2 she was up for 10 minutes, then out for the night. Night 3 she slept through the night, and has done so ever since. She is happier and more well rested then I can ever remember. My wife and I are also sleeping through the night! I encourage readers to put aside any doubts, and try the method. If you're getting up frequently, how can it hurt?
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Summary: Read this, even if you don't believe in "crying it out!"
Review: Dr. Ferber's book gives real-life guidelines and practical tips for helping your child sleep better. There are many detractors of his advice, but I recommend that a parent READ THE BOOK and THINK ABOUT IT, before coming to a premature conclusion. A parent shouldn't follow Dr. Ferber out the window, just like we shouldn't blindly follow any expert advice without thoughtful consideration and adaptation for an individual child. With some adjustments for my own philosophy, the advice in this book worked like magic for my son. He is sleeping better, he's happier during the day, and he is not upset or traumatized. He just rolls over and goes to sleep most of the time! My 5 month old son was still getting up twice a night for feedings. My husband and I decided that we would try the Ferber method, but we were not comfortable letting our baby cry for very long. We started with only 1 minute and only worked up to 8 minutes, and it still worked great. We had a few difficult nights, but no hysterics, no crying til the baby threw up, or any other traumatic events. I'm sure this won't work for every child. And, if it doesn't work quickly for you, then I wouldn't do it. But, don't dismiss a point of view like this, just because some people have philosophical differences on the topic. We should all use our own good judgment.
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Summary: This book changed our lives
Review: And if I didn't see the results myself I wouldn't have believed it. My 10 week old little boy refused to sleep in his crib and refused to sleep on his back. (He slept in our bed- or in our arms)I do cherish the time he spent in our family bed but the problem is that he was fussy quite a bit of the time & no one was getting any sleep. Turns out he could never sleep soundly with us next to him even though he wanted us there... I followed Ferber's advice and after ONE full day and half a night my little peanut's problems were SOLVED. He sleeps in his crib, wakes up once a night for a feeding and sleeps on his back without any problems. We don't have to rock & rock him to get him in a deep sleep, we put him down and he sucks his thumb to pacify himself and drifts off by himself. Like I said, if I didn't see it myself I wouldn't have believed it. I am buying this book for everyone I know who is having babies.
Rating: 
Summary: Sigh
Review: After reading all the reviews, I was ready to believe that there was another approach to the "cry it out" method. My problem is that my daughter, 13 months, wakes up and nurses back to sleep several times a night. Sure, I learned a little about sleep cycles, and identified that I had a problem with her sleep associations. But the advice he offered was "some crying will be involved". As if I hadn't tried that already?! I'm back to square one. There's no way I'll let her cry more than an hour. I've tried it. It's too hard on both of us. I didn't find Ferber too compassionate -- and, yes, I did actually read the book.
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Summary: Thank you, Dr. Ferber!
Review: I used to spend at least 20 minutes at naptime and 45 minutes at bedtime rocking my baby to sleep. At 5 months old, it began to take longer and longer to get her to sleep AND she began waking again during the night after 3 months of successful sleeping. Sometimes I would finally get her to sleep only to have her wake up crying when I tried to put her in the crib. Her naptimes were too short and I could tell she was sleep deprived. I knew something was wrong. I read Dr. Ferber's book - at last someone explained why my baby was having sleep problems and we could solve them easily! In TWO DAYS, my daugher was putting herself to sleep with minimal fussing and would fall back asleep at night without my intervention. After 4 days, she hardly fussed at all when I put her down at bedtime - naptimes was a max of 10 minutes fussing.My husband and I are amazed at how well this program works - we know we've done something positive for our daughter's future sleep habits. I'll keep this book as a reference right up to her teen years! It's well-written and practical, easy to follow and provides charts to help you measure your progress. NOTE TO NEW MOMS: since you don't have a lot of time, you'll be pleased to know that the book is divided into chapters of specific sleep problems so you don't have to read the whole book to enact the program for babies. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dr. Ferber!!
Rating: 
Summary: Help at Last for Tired Parents
Review: Like many of the other reviewers, I bought this book when I was at my wits end, totally exhausted from all of my three month old's nightly nursing sessions. An attachment parent who used the family, I was opposed to any method in which I left my baby alone to cry it out, so I consulted many books on attachment parenting, including Dr. Sears' Nighttime Parenting, looking for a solution to our sleep problems. None of them were any help, so in desperation I read this book. The Ferber Method was very difficult for the first two days. Our son cried for about 15 minutes before finally falling asleep, but those 15 minutes seemed like hours. We were able to go in and comfort him though, so it did not seem like we were being cruel and heartless. On the third day, our son finally slept through the night in his own bed, and woke up the happiest and most well rested I have ever seen him. Ultimatly, how you go about getting your child to sleep is up to each parent individually. What works for one family may not work for another. As for all of the attachment parents who wrote in saying that no parent who loves thier child could possibly go through with this method, I have my doubts as to whether they acutually read this book.
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Summary: It's not about crying it out!
Review: There is so much more to this book than the rumored crying it out method! I am a parent who practices attachment parenting, and I had not had more than a 3 hour stretch of sleep in over a year and a half. I became desperate and bought this book after Dr. Sear's Nighttime Parenting book was absolutely no help. I learned so much about WHY my daughter sleeps (or doesn't) the way she does and resolved her night waking using the other methods in this book. She never once was left to cry, left alone in a room, or left in a crib. We've simply instituted a regular daytime feeding schedule for meals and snacks and a bedtime routine. Problem solved! Thanks Dr. Ferber!
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Summary: This book helped me to understand
Review: My son was 8 months old when I finally called my pediatrician for advise on sleep. She recommended this book and I immediately got it. I was the typical frustrated mom who was at the end of her rope. Within 1 week of starting this program, my son was an all night sleeper. The book helped me to understand why he was waking up in the night, and that made it easier for me to cope with it. I'm glad I have a "Ferber Baby"!
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Summary: It makes all the difference in the world!
Review: After reading several book reviews, they all scared me with some of the negativity. A friend lent me this book and I read just the parts that pertained to my 5 mo.old son. In 2 days his behavior and my stress level were greatly improved. It's much more than just "letting him cry"... it's all about understanding what is going on and why. I was ready to give up breastfeeding because I thought his sleep (or lack of) problems were related to gas and not enough calorie consumption. Ferber's graphs of a normal sleep pattern were right on with my son's night wakings. Do you and your child a favor and figure it out with this book.
Rating:
Summary: If only I had gotten it sooner...
Review: At 3 months, your child is capable of sleeping through the night. At 6 months, they should be. At 8-9 months, after some inconsistent sleeping, we were getting desperate. Upon reading this book and trying the "Ferber" method, it worked like a charm and our son is the best and most consistent sleeper. Yes, the first two days were tough. I so strongly recommend the book (and I don't think we were finished it completely) that I am buying it as a gift for friends that are new parents!
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