Rating: 
Summary: Well Rested Family
Review: I tried this method and it works. We rocked my son to sleep until he was 4 1/2 mos. old. It began to spiral out of control when he started waking up every hour to be rocked back to sleep again (or put into our bed). I was worried that we might have a car accident some morning because my husband and I were both so sleep deprived. In desperation I read this book and it made complete sense to me. Especially the part about positive and negative sleep associations. (Read that part very carefully, esp. about music and pacifiers). The first night was terrible. My son cried off and on for two hours before falling asleep. The second night it was 45 minutes. The third, 15 minutes. He is now 5 1/2 mos. old and cries 5 minutes at the most and sleeps the entire night 9-10 hours straight and wakes up happy! As a result, he has also become a good napper.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy to read
Review: I have read them all--Ferber, Weissbluth, etc. Drs. Mindell, Ferber, and Weissbluth outline similar methods, but this book is MUCH easier to read. I am a physician and could barely plod through the others. This book is simple and makes sense. That being said, I have not actually IMPLEMENTED any of the methods. While Dr. Mindell does not give an actual age to wait before starting sleep training, my baby is 3 months old and I want to wait until he is a little older (Dr. Ferber recommends 5-6 months old). Right now, we have to swaddle him up and swing him in his car seat for several minutes before he will sleep. We have to repeat this a few times in the middle of the night. I can't wait to actually use the methods I have been reading about!
Rating:
Summary: It worked for us!
Review: I don't often post reviews, but we are so happy with our son's sleeping now, that I felt it only fair to come back to this site to give Dr. Mindell's work a plug.This is an easy read, yet the author's professional credentials and subject matter expertise are evident. But who really cares about THAT? What sleep-deprived parents need to know is, DOES IT WORK?!? And the answer for us was YES!!!!!!!!!!1 I offer a little background, so that you can compare your situation with ours: our son was six months old when we undertook Dr. Mindell's advice, after a half year of sleep deprivation. It would sometimes take hours to coax our son to sleep(and this was almost always my job, partly because my husband work most evenings). We could never predict when we'd get him down, and then he's wake up 3, 4, 5 times a night and could not fall back to sleep without a suckle (he is breast fed). We followed her advice and he was sleeping through the night by the 4th night. And he still is. Warning: it is NOT "easy" (it IS, actually, in fact, it is quite simple, but hard on the nerves for a few hours of your life). Both parents, or all the caregivers involved (whatever your situation is) have to be familiar with the method and committed to it before beginning. There will be moments when one or the other's resistance to Baby's protests may flag. Also, I found it easier to have my husband be the one to check on the baby, thinking that it would be cruel to subject him to the smell of me and my milk. OKAY, so, you want to know how it worked and what we went through to get there? Yes, he cried an hour the first night, and 45 minutes the next night (and this was the HARDEST night for me, having lost a little bit of the determination that got us going the first evening), 20 minutes the third, five minutes the fourth, about three seconds the next night, and...ever since... NO TEARS. He actually smiles as I tuck him in and drifts off to sleep peacefully, and sleeps soundly!! This means predictable evenings for us, at last, and, I have to say, our daytime routines have been more consistent as well: he tends to get sleepy for naps regularly, and mealtimes are more regular too. For all the anti-CIO people who object to allowing babies to cry a bit, I have to say: sometimes a parent has to do things for the LONG-TERM good of the child, even if the child does not like it in the short term. This is a great example of that: my son protested vehemently the first few nights, and now he is HAPPY to be tucked in, and is better rested and a happier child during the day as well. Bottom line: IT WORKED. BUY THIS BOOK. GET SOME SLEEP, and get your life on track!
Rating:
Summary: It's not all or none.
Review: After reading the reviews here, I must say that it is necessary to remember that you don't have to buy into every theory 100%. I read portions of the book and after a week, yes the overall practice worked with my 10 month old. BUT, I used my head and didn't follow directions to the T. Afterall, this is MY child and I know him the best. I also know what I can and cannot tolerate in terms of crying it out. Still, after my modified approach (and yes, he did cry quite a bit, but mama came back frequently to let him know I didn't vanish), this worked for my baby. He is sleeping better and longer. Good luck with whatever approach you choose. As another reviewer stated, it sucks to hear them cry at all, but it is a rare baby who will not object to going to bed. I know that in about 14 years, I'll be trying to drag him out of bed in the morning rather than wishing he'd sleep a little longer. :)
Rating: 
Summary: Too simple
Review: I was excited to find this book because, although I knew I could handle some crying in trying to get my baby to sleep, I also knew I could not handle having her cry in the middle of the night. This book says get her to fall asleep on her own at bedtime and soon she will sleep through the night. Well it is now two and a half months after instituting the bedtime routine and NO SUCCESS. In fact, my baby (now 7 months old) has gotten worse, waking up now 3 times instead of 2. At bedtime she goes to sleep usually pretty fast with minimal crying (0-15 minutes), but this has been the only success. Basically I think that this book does not take into account that your baby is much smarter than you think and can differentiate her wakenings. You can condition your baby to go to sleep well at bedtime but that may not have an effect on what she will do in the middle of the night. My baby also goes down for her naps with minimal crying and has been for months. I have been very strict in enforcing the bedtime (7:00-7:30) and the bedtime routine. Although this book tells you how to get the bedtime down, so do many many other books - in fact all of them (Ferber, Weissbluth, Tracy Hogg, Sears, Pantley). So in the end I don't really see what this book has to offer. It is just a simplified version of Ferber really, and in my case, did not work at all.
Rating:
Summary: This method works!
Review: I had twin boys 5 1/2 years ago. After four months without sleeping more than an hour at a time, I turned to this book for help. Yes, listening to my babies cry really sucked. They cried for 20-40 minutes at bedtime for several months. BUT they began sleeping through the night almost immediately. What's more, by maintaining a regular schedule and bedtime routine, they have continued to sleep through the night in their own beds EVERY night (unless they're sick, or we're away from home). When my next child came, the Mindell/Ferber method proved just as effective. As to those who bemoan the "abusive" nature of this method -- good parenting does not consist of Hallmark-card platitudes about "wiping those tears away." It consists of a reasoned, consistent, postitive approach in every situation, which is exactly what this book offers. It seems like quite a few people really bristled at the part about some children crying hard enough to induce vomiting, which the author assures is not a huge trauma for the child. I have found this to be absolutely true, and not just when it comes to sleeping. When parents freak out about an episode of vomiting, the child learns to freak out, too. When the parent takes an attitude of, "No big deal, let's clean up," the child moves right past the incident with no emotional upheaval. Some people also seem to take offense at the author's assertion that infants can be "manipulative." Well, that's EXACTLY what they are, and rightly so. The early stages of development are all about the child learning to manipulate her environment -- learning to understand that she can control things and events. There's nothing inherently evil about this. When it comes to sleeping, what the child wants and what the parent wants may differ, and the child will attempt to manipulate her environment (including her parents) to get her own way. But just because it's what the child wants doesn't mean it's the best thing. You wouldn't let your baby stick her finger in a socket no matter how much she cried. Some will no doubt say that rocking a baby to sleep is not the same as sticking her finger in a socket. But then again, when you're driving that child to grandma's house and you wrap the car around a tree because you only had 2 1/2 hours of sleep, try telling yourself that you did it out of kindness.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, something that really works!
Review: After reading countless books on how to get our baby to sleep, we finally found a method that works using this book! Mind you, it has only been 4 days since we started this program, but look at the results: Day one: 18 minutes of crying, 4 night wakings
Day two: no crying initially, 3 night wakings
Day three: 30 minutes of crying, no night wakings. She slept 12 hours straight!!!
Day four: 8 minutes of crying, no night wakings. She slept 11 1/2 hours straight!!! We are very close to our 6th month old daughter and try to practice attachment parenting at all times, but we were turning into zombies from lack of sleep. I truly believe that our baby is happier and far more rested than she ever was before and that our bond has actually strengthened by using this method. FYI: She is still exclusively breastfed - no formula. And previously, she was co-sleeping with us. Now that she is in her crib sleeping on her own, we all can finally get some sleep! Not to sound to corny, but if I ever met Ms. Mindell, I would give her a big hug and "Thank You!"
Rating:
Summary: A Babies Worst Nightmare!
Review: As a very tired parent, I was looking for insight and advise on how to help our whole family get a good nights sleep. I read feverishly until I got to the sentence that states that children "enjoy" vomitting! Are you kidding? I cringed at the thought of me following this woman's dvise and my sweet, trusting, and loving 4 month old son vomitting because he had cried so hard and this woman stating that he was enjoying himself! Shame on her. This "Ph.d" lost any bit a credit she ever thought about having in my eyes. This book is a baby's worst nightmare. If you love you child please do not buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Advice!
Review: I read this book prior to the birth of my daughter, and refer back to it as needed. The author takes a common-sense approach to helping your child (and the parents!) sleep through the night. Naturally, the earlier you start helping your child sleep, the better - a 2 month old child will take to it better than a 2 year old. Even still, information is included for all age children. Anyone looking for an easy answer to get their child to sleep on their own, through the night, and without any *protest* is living in a fantasy world! Instead, the book details what levels of protest the parent should expect and be prepared for and at what ages.
Rating:
Summary: Very Upsetting - Made *Me* Want to Cry!
Review: I bought this book because I have two children who wake very frequently at night and I am EXHAUSTED. I am open to just about any suggestions to help them sleep. But boy, I could never follow this woman's advice - I couldn't treat a dog like this, and certainly not my children. This woman is recommending the same tired old 'cry it out' method [you don't need a book to explain this method - its pretty self explanitory]. But she seems awfully extreme to me, even for a Cry It Out proponent. She actually writes that you should *expect* your child to cry until s/he vomits and then you should just clean it up 'as best you can' preferably without picking up the child! [She also recommends making the crib with double sheets so you can just quickly rip off the top layer when your baby vomits as expected.] The she says that babies and toddlers actually think vomiting is FUN and that they use vomiting as a tool to manipulate their parents. This is the most bizarre and evil thing I think I've ever read! My children certainly don't enjoy vomiting, and for them to be so upset that they vomit would mean that they were absolutely hysterical with fear and misery. I would never intentionally inflict this on my child. Other recommendations she makes seem just cruel to me as well - to turn on loud music, shower, or do other similar things so that you are not 'bothered' by your child screaming in misery and fear in their room; that 'head banging' all night long is normal and common behavior [maybe for babies who are traumatized like this it is - I don't see it in the babies and toddlers I know who have never been subjected to this kind of treatment], that crying for an hour or more is just fine, and not to check on the child too frequently lest s/he cry more to manipulate you, etc. I was just appalled. I couldn't ignore complete stranger who was in so much distress, let alone my own children. As tired as I am [I am often awakened 10 or more times per night by my two children], I wouldn't do this - I couldn't do this. There has GOT to be a better way. I'll keep searching.
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