Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems

Rating:
Summary: Every parent should have this book
Review: I have used these techniques with my two (very different) children and it's worked with both. Giving your child and your family a good night's rest is so essential to a healthy lifestyle. It's also necessary for a child to be able to put themselves to sleep on their own. To the woman with the 9 month old who thought the book was cruel, my response is this. She didn't implement the techniques correctly. For a child who has been sleeping with you for nine months, you weren't supposed to leave them in a darkened room alone. You were supposed to sit in the room with them and work up to leaving them alone. She must have skipped that paragraph. Anyway, my pediatrician recommended this book and I recommend it to many friends with great results. No child past a few months old can't be taught to go to sleep on their own and stay asleep through the night.

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Summary: Happy Baby Happy Mom
Review: Dr. Ferber sure knows his stuff!! Our son wouldn't sleep in his crib no matter what. I would rock him for 10 minutes or 2 hours it just didn't matter. Therefore I started a very bad thing by letting him sleep with us. Not only that but my arm had to be around him the entire night. If I got up for any reason he would cry until my arm was around him again. He would fall asleep at 8:00 every evening. I would either have to get in bed with him or my husband and I would take turns holding him until we were ready for bed. It was not fun. I had no time for myself or for my husband. I felt that I was handcuffed to this little guy. Naptimes were just as bad, he was held for all of them by me. I tried the No-Cry Sleep Solution, that was a really big disappointment. So after a lot of thought and a few stomach aches we gave this book a try. It actually worked. I was amazed!! The first night was really rough. My little guy cried for about 2 hours(I cried the whole time too). After he finally fell asleep(for maybe 2 hours) he woke up every hour. By the second night he cried for only 30 minutes. He just woke up once with only 5 minutes of fuss, we didn't even go in the room. The 3rd night was the same. The 4th night was the best with NO crying at all. I'm so excited. I can't believe it actually worked. The only reason I can write this review is because my baby is sound asleep in his crib. I would be holding him otherwise. I thought that we would be sleeping with our baby forever. I think this book is really great. It explains things very well and Dr. Ferber gives great examples. If I ever meet Dr. Ferber I would hug and kiss him. Thank you Dr. Ferber!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Proven, Effective, Safe Method
Review: I am a physician assistant, and I have worked part-time with the pediatrician in our clinic. I recommend this book frequently to stressed-out, worn-out parents. I am comfortable recommending this book because it has worked in my own family.

We have used it on our three boys now, and each time it has worked wonders for us. Instead of being tired and on-edge because we can't sleep, now we have healthy sleepers and can enjoy them better because we're not worn out.

My wife was initially reluctant to do this, until she got up with our first child one night when crying, and as soon as he saw her he smiled like everything was alright. She knew then that he just wanted *her*, and he wasn't in pain or trouble or anything.

It worked on our first boy who slept in his own crib in his own room, and it worked with our next two who slept with us in our bed. All three were nursed. It worked within a week for each of them.

I've seen reviews where the person worries about "psychological" harm to the kids by letting them cry. These people need to read John Rosemond and realize that we're not going to permanently scar our kids if we let them cry for a few nights if we otherwise show them the love they need. After each child got to sleeping on their own, they were happier, better adjusted, and the whole family benefited.

I also don't believe the contention that the kids continue to cry, parents just get "desensitized" to the crying and don't wake up. It is true that I can doze off for 30 minutes or so when they are crying, then get up and check on them. But as soon as they sleep through the night, if they cry again I hear it and am up. I feel it even makes things better, because if they're crying after sleeping on their own, I know something must be wrong.

I just look at my 4 year old and compare him with my 5 year old nephew. The 5 year old sleeps with his parents every night, and he cries and is very fearful if he ever sleeps at our house. When my 4 year old spends the night with him, he sleeps comfortably wherever he is, and wakes up in the morning just fine.

The information on sleep cycles alone is worth the price. I will admit I haven't read the later chapters as I haven't had to deal with those issues.

Rating:
Summary: Oh thank God!
Review: First, I want you to know that I have never felt strongly enough to write a review about anything before. I have ten month old twins, one of whom has always had a very difficult time sleeping. I tried everything I could come up with to help the poor guy sleep, but nothing worked. I am a very patient person, but my patience had worn thin from night after night of walking him around for an hour, carefuly lying him in his crib, only to do it all over again two or three more times through the night. Tonight is night two of using Dr. Ferber's method. Last night, it took about half an hour to fall asleep, then he slept for ten hours straight. Tonight, it took fifteen minutes, and I am currently listening to blissful silence on the baby monitor. I won't lie, listening to the crying was a little rough, but I know that he will be a better, happier baby and I will be a better, happier mom. It's not magic, but it's darned close.

Rating:
Summary: Read the book before you judge the method.
Review: As a fan of Sears, I was absolutely against the "cry-it-out" method. The key here is that I was against it emotionally; I hadn't actually read anything about it. After following Ferber's method, however, I am once again a happy mom who can enjoy her happy, well-rested baby. This is a terrific, well-written, well-researched book by an expert in sleep and sleep disorders.

Sears says that after cry-it-out, your child has "given up" and that Ferber followers just "stop hearing" their children. It's important to realize that what Sears offers are OPINIONS, not facts. Secondly, his opinions are based on ADULT EMOTIONS, not a baby's physical reality. Sears doesn't discuss the science of sleep. For what it's worth, he also doesn't realistically examine the damage that ongoing sleep deprivation can do to both parents and child.

I should mention that after the first night of crying, my 5-month-old son welcomed me the next morning with the biggest, most glorious smile, as if to say, "Thanks, Mom! I think I finally have this sleep thing figured out." And since he started sleeping through the night on his own, he has been cuddly, loving, talkative and well-rested. So the "damaged attachment" theory didn't hold true for us.

Buy this book, "Healthy Sleep Habits" and "No Cry Sleep Solution." Read them all (if you're not too tired!). And know that whatever method you choose for your family and your child is the right one. What's important is that you're taking the time and putting forth the effort to help your entire family be happy, healthy and well-rested.

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Summary: I can't belive it really worked!
Review: I cannot belive this really worked! My daughter is 6 months old and she had reverted back on her sleeping habits. She was getting up ever 3 hours to nurse. I had to rock her to sleep while nursing her and then I would slowly place her into the crib (while alseep) and that's how I would get her to bed every night and nap. Since reading this book - I followed Dr. Ferbers suggestions exact and the first night was the really hard, but I had to prepare myself for the worse...within three nights she was sleeping through the night. Now that I look back and think about her crying...and crying it was all worth it because she is now getting a solid sleep each night. This was the best thing we could have done for her. Now I place her into her crib each night (following the same nightly process) and kiss her goodnight and she falls asleep within 2-3 minutes of me leaving her room. No more rocking or nursing her to sleep.

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Summary: Alone in the dark, my cries unanswered...NOT a solution!
Review: The only thing that crying yourself to sleep does for your baby is make him tense, nervous, anxious and insecure. Not only does this method NOT work, but you have to repeat it every time your child goes through any kind of developmental change. Try "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. I got my unsleeping child to sleep using her methods with no tears and no problems. She has continued to sleep beautifully ever since, even through teething...and 2 years later she sleeps 12 hours at night and 2 hours at nap with total peace & happiness.

Rating:
Summary: It worked for us
Review: Our baby slept fine in her bassinet, but when we moved her to her crib at six months, she started crying every night. She cried when we put her to bed and she woke up throughout the night. We were rocking her for probably hours each night.

I got this book after three months of frustration, when she started teething and waking up every twenty minutes for hours each early morning.

Within three days of following Dr. Ferber's plan, she was sleeping though the night again.

The advice he gives is reasonable and logical. It's not about just letting your child cry; it's about creating conditions she can reproduce when she wakes up in the middle of the night. He gives an example of a baby like ours who needed to be rocked every night and explained that if she must be rocked to fall asleep, she needs it every time. He compares this to us with a pillow: if your pillow falls off your bed in the night and you wake up, you'd have a hard time falling asleep again until you retrieve the pillow. But if the pillow were magically "gone," you wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. So when your must-be-rocked baby wakes up in the night, she can't put herself in your arms and get rocked on her own.

But Dr. Ferber explains that if for some reason you had to learn to sleep without a pillow, it would be hard at first, but you'd adapt. Likewise, you need to re-train your baby.

It's an easy and sensible program to follow, and it involved far less crying than I expected. We now spend more "quality" time with her at night, and NO time running to her room to rock her back to sleep. We've all regained our nights!