Rating: 
Summary: A great book to help parents deal with sleep issues
Review: Prior to having my daughter and the first few months of her life, I was completely against the "cry it out" method. I read Sears & Sears chapter on nighttime parenting and thought that their philosophy was much more consistent with my own. Then I experienced the reality of having a baby.Dr. Mindell's book was given to me as a gift and after reading it I decided to give her methods a try. Yes, it is not easy to hear your baby cry but her method really works and she offers excellent suggestions on how to cope with the first few nights of sleep training. Our baby cried far less than we expected and fell asleep fairly quickly. Also, her book is about more than just putting your baby to bed awake, it is about understanding the difference between infant and adult sleep, establishing a bedtime routine, a consistent bedtime and paying attention to the environment where your baby sleeps. My husband and I feel liberated that our 4 month old baby is sleeping through the night most nights already! I do not think we have caused her psychological harm in any way. In fact, she is much less cranky and she is taking more consistent naps. (Prior to sleep training, she almost never napped). Dr. Mindell's book offers a very good overview of sleep, sleep disorders, & how to cope with a large variety of issues from nightmares, early waking, and difficulties getting to sleep yourself once your baby is sleeping. I found her book to be thoughtfully written and very comprehensive. Whether to use a sleep training strategy or not is a very personal decision but Dr. Mindell provides the reader with sound advice on how to improve your babies sleep habits. I highly recommend her book.
Rating: 
Summary: All Sleep Training Books Are the Same
Review: I wouldn't buy this book if you are looking for an alternative to CIO, because it offers none. My favorite line from the book: "By staying with your child when he is upset or afraid, you are only reinforcing those bad behaviors." If you are a parent who thinks that being upset or afraid is something other than *bad behavior*, don't waste your money on this book! Admittedly, I am pretty anti-Ferber, but I thought I'd give this book a try, since I'd heard many people refer to Mindell as "a kinder, gentler, Ferber." But her method is only Ferber's rehashed, with some touchy-feely advice designed to appease any guilt you might have about letting your child cry. I do think that there are cases when Ferber's method might need to be used, but those kids are the minority. This isn't a method for the average child. Even Ferber himself agrees that it's not for every child and even cosleeping might be best for some babies (see The New Yorker, November 8, 1999). Unfortunately this "Graduated crying" method is used WAY too often, and more unfortunately, parents are convinced that it is the best way and that it is their duty to do it. Parents need to find what's best for them, no matter what it is.
Rating:
Summary: The "cry-it-out" method, masquerading as something new
Review: I was looking for some compassionate ideas about how to ease my son's transition from waking to sleeping without fussing and crying. This book basically mandates that if you nurse your infant to sleep, rock him or her, or take him or her into your bed at night (all instinctual and I believe proper parent actions), you're going to end up with a child with sleep problems. She even goes so far as to say that babies (babies!!) manipulate their parents by looking pathetic and crying and that we should harden our hearts to them. The kicker was when she says that you shouldn't panic if your child, who you have left alone and screaming to go to sleep, cries so much that they vomit, because "vomiting is no big deal to babies and children. It's even fun for them." When I read that, I put down the book and got a copy of "Nighttime Parenting" by Dr. William Sears, which is what I would recommend to any parent with a heart who is willing to accept that not all babies will sleep through the night at three months, six months, or maybe even a year. All babies are different, and one quick-fix solution doesn't work.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Start, BUT we had to "Ferberize" anyway
Review: A modified Ferber approach. Mindell's thesis is... 'at bed-time put the baby down by himself, let him cry, go in at intervals to comfort, AND only worry about bedtime. If he wakes in the night do your old "bad" routine (i.e. rocking, nursing, pacifier...in my case co-sleeping, nursing, pacifier) and within a few weeks he will sleep through the night. Nap time practices are optional.' Within two nights my son stopped crying when I put him down. The first night he cried 38min, the second, 15. However, a month later he was still waking up after two hours to come into bed. He was still nursing a couple of times and screaming a couple of times when I wouldn't let him nurse. I finally lost my husband to the guest room. Thus, I had to "Ferberize" (meaning go in at intervals when he cried the whole night, not just at bedtime). [that was one bad night (he cried for 30 min at 12AM and an 30 min at 3AM). The second night he woke up once or twice, cried for a few secs and went back to sleep.] Mindell was a very helpful start to the sleep re-learning process! A great baby step. I don't think Ferber from the start would have felt good to me. When I finally did his plan, I already knew my baby could fall asleep without me. I recommend this book for people who are hesitant to let their babies cry and want to work in intervals. Just keep in mind you might have to do more. I practiced Attachment Parenting for the first six months. At five months, my son decided waking up every hour or two to nurse would be fun, and I started reading Ferber, Baby Wise and then Mindell. It took a month to muster up the courage to start. (understandable with all the horrifying thoughts Dr. Sears put in my head.) Now at 7 months, he is sleeping really well and happier than ever. I still like Dr. Sears on nursing for at least the first year, nutrition, discipline and being at home. And I am really grateful that I listened to Mindell and Ferber.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a Total Endorsement
Review: I can't give this book a 100% endorsement because I threw my first copy in the garbage in disgust. The problem is, the book failed with my first child. I feel compelled to make amends, however, as it is working well with my second child. (We seem to have a non-sleeping gene in our family.) Baby #1 is strong willed. We tried Mindell's methods (indeed, I believe I memorized entire chapters), with the result that my first child became so upset he threw up every night for four nights in a row. The book actually deals with vomiting, basically suggesting you ignore it. But I decided that anything that made my kid throw up consistently was a bad thing. We ended up waiting until he was 18 months before he slept through the night. Baby #2 came along with a more laid back temperment. But he also is a poor sleeper. With two kids under 3, we needed sleep more than ever. So, with Baby #2 almost a year old, we revisited this book. Guess what? It's working! Baby #2 cried horribly for a few nights. But he is indeed cutting down his night wakings and goes to bed with hardly a peep! The moral is, caveat emptor: this book might not work for all kids/families. But it has good information. It's worth a shot. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Read With Discernment...
Review: After digesting book after book on pregnancy and childbirth, I had no idea the issue of sleep training was such a controversial one! My husband and I have searched high and low, first for a method of sleep training, then just for a few good ideas. This book, especially when read in the light of the fact that every baby and parent is DIFFERENT, offers some good advice to thinking parents. I really appreciated the lack of advice concerning feeding -we tried a "flexible schedule" (BabyWise) on our baby at 2 months, and it was not right for any of us. This book is about sleep issues (with a few extras on discipline, take them or leave them), not a comprehensive parenting plan. However, although the author does advise checking on your child, she also advocates letting your child cry, and mentions that parents should not be greatly alarmed if their child vomits during prolonged crying. Summed up, if you can be discerning and know yourself and your child, the author's advice on bedtime routines is a BIG help -we do this regularly now, and never had to endure more than five minutes of bedtime fussing. If we'd been having to allow our daughter to become distressed to the point of vomiting, this book would have been out the window FAST. We started on the bedtime routine at five months and our now seven month old daughter just started sleeping through (5-8 hours) consistently last week (don't expect this to work overnight -the author reinforces this fact). Another concern -I'd recommend that nursing mothers check with their pediatrician or lactation consultant concerning what effect extended sleep (8 hours or more) will have on their milk supply. Read it with discernment.
Rating:
Summary: This absolutely works! You just have to commit yourself
Review: Amazingly, this worked for my 6 month old son. The book provides a good explanation of why babies don't sleep through the night. After 3 nights of crying, my son goes was able to calm himself down and now goes down happy and smiling. We still haven't gotten him to sleep all the way through but we're working on it. I can tell he actually understands "the rules" and knows that after his bath and a story, he will go to sleep. You have to be consistent, though. Change the routine and you will pay!
Rating:
Summary: it really works
Review: Great comprehesive book that really works. It took three night for my son to sleep 12 hours in a row. Before, he had never even slept 4 hours in a row. Well written and easy to understand.
Rating:
Summary: Who's crankier, you or your baby?
Review: I am a mother of four who never thought I'd buy another parenting book, but since my husband and I haven't had more than a handful of full nights' sleep in almost a year, we were desperate. I decided to try this method because Ms. Mindell's emphasis was on bedtime and naptime, not during the night. I could never do the "let them scream it out" method during the night because I have three other children, one of whom shares a room with the baby. Ms. Mindell says (and I was skeptical at first) that once the baby learns to calm himself at bedtime and naptime, he will quickly become a "self-soother" during the night as well. I am here to report that that has been the case with our son! Within three days he was settling down within 5 minutes (now we're down to less than 2 most times) at bedtime and naptime and since we implemented the program two weeks ago we've gotten up only 4 times during the night! Creating rituals has been really important to us and our son now eagerly awaits his bedtime routine. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs help eliminating negative sleep associations.
Rating:
Summary: More of the same with an explanation
Review: I don't really see how Mindell's advice differs from the usual "cry it out" advice- essentially that is what you end up doing in any of these "sleep training" methods. I didn't want to have to resort to this and hoped she would shed some new and helpful light on the subject, but I was somewhat disappointed. The only things I found useful in our situation (5 month old son who vigorously fought sleeping in his crib and wakes 2-4 times per night) were the establishment of an earlier bedtime with a distinct routine and removing things that won't be there when he wakes during the night. After 2.5 weeks, he's going down quite well, but still wakes often, and Mindell provides NO help in terms of reducing that- just says that it should resolve on its own in 2-3 weeks. So I'm waiting with baited breath for that wonderful night! I wouldn't say "don't buy this book" but I think a little common sense would obviate the need for it. If you are attachment-parenting oriented you can save yourself the money! Well - 2 years later- he didn't give up those night time wakings until one magical night just after he turned 2. Now he sleeps like a champ just about every night and is my "good sleeper" (compared to his older sister). I don't regret letting him "cry it out" a few nights - I think it was needed, but it never helped the night time crying.
|
