Customer Rating: 
Summary: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Comment: After following the steps set out by Dr. Weissbluth, my daughter began sleeping 12 hours through the night (without a peep) at 9 months!! She is now 2 years old and is still a great sleeper (she sleeps 2 hours at naptime, too). There is little to no drama at bedtime and if she does cry, it is for less than a couple minutes before she falls to sleep. My daughter is a happy, well-rested and congenial child, who is a joy to be around. Pretty amazing since I was at my wits end before I got this book and began taking control of my baby's sleep habits. When you read this book, start from the beginning (it can read like a thesis at first but the case studies are great learning tools). Once you have the concept down, you can start applying it to your child by age and temperment. I recommend this book to all new parents and parents of toddlers. You have to be willing to keep a sleep log, schedule your child's naps and make an effort to keep a scheduled bedtime in the beginning (the first year at least!). But once your child has mastered soothing herself to sleep, she can sleep anywhere. My second child is 3 months old and already sleeping 6 to 7 hours at a stretch at night. Yup, I'm tired but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And, my little boy will be sleeping through the night like his sister in no time at all thanks to Dr. Weissbluth!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: this book is child abuse
Comment: This book is one of the scariest thing i have ever read. A true book of horror.
This book misses the whole idea that children are children and should not be expected to act like adults act. I know adults that dont sleep through the night and forcing a child to sleep through the night is awful. Let the children vomit? Ignore them and clean them up after they are asleep?
We cannot treat prisoners of war this way, but somehow it is ok to treat our children this way? I dont see how any parent can use this and be able to sleep at night... even if it makes their child sleep (which it probably wont). The last thing we need to teach our children is to not trust their parents and that their cries will go unheard because of their parent's selfishness.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Start Early
Comment: This book has produced a happy 15 month old who capable of telling you when he's ready for a nap or for bed. He will nod his head and say yes when asked if he is ready for "night-night". Hard to believe, but true. Oh - not to mention that he's in bed by 7:00 pm at the very latest every single night and sleeps without waking until 6:30 or 7:00 am each morning. This was no accident - I began reading this book shortly before his birth and was absolutely convinced of the importance of sleep to his growth and well-being. From the first night home in his own bed in his own room, to actively paying attention to his wake/sleep cycles - and month by month expected sleep pattern changes, this book allowed me to give my child the most precious gift possible: restful sleep. By following the information in the book (even though it may have seemed slightly harsh at the time), I have a child who knows when he's tired, is willing and happy to go to bed, falls alseep easily and without crying or protest, and has SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT CONSISTENTLY SINCE HE WAS 4 MONTHS OLD. Not a record by any standard, but 16 weeks of administering the techniques in this book did pay off and have been paying off ever since. BUY this book, READ it, IMPLEMENT the strategies, and you'll have a HAPPY BABY on your hands. Plus more sleep for yourself.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Finally, my baby sleeps!
Comment: For the first 5 months of life my baby only took 1 or 2 half-hour naps a day, and woke up often throughout the night. I was soooo exhausted and stressed. It took hours for her to fall asleep for naps, and both of us were miserable. I tried soothing, nursing, crying-it-out, and putting her in a swing, but nothing helped. I didn't realize that even though I thought I was responding to the first signs of tiredness (rubbing her eyes, etc), she was already too tired to fall asleep. Several ideas in this book helped me understand what she needed, and now (at 7 months) she is a happy baby who takes great naps, and only wakes up for one nightly nursing session. I learned the following: She needed a much earlier bedtime, so she now goes easily to sleep at 6:30pm instead of 9 or 10pm. I also learned that babies are ready for their first nap after only being awake for 1-2 hours in the morning. Sure enough, I started putting her down at 8:30am, and after 3 days she started going to sleep without crying. The third thing that helped was discovering that she needs another nap after every 2 hours of awake time. Once implemented, she started sleeping great! Not perfect, but we're all pretty happy with it. I saw some reviewers complain about Weissbluth's advice regarding crying, or sleeping/not sleeping in the family bed, etc. I ignored those parts of the book. The timing advice was where my instinct had been off. The instruction on timing can be adapted for use with most parenting philosophies.
Customer Rating:
Summary: happy baby
Comment: this book really helped us a lot. simple, practical advice that is explained with compassion for new parents with fussy babies. our child is acting so much happier and we are able to get him down for naps so much quicker. thanks!
|
