Customer Reviews

Baby and Toddler Sleep Program: How to Get Your Child to Sleep Through the Night, Every Night

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you are looking for a book on selfisness, this is it! As new parents, my wife and I were looking for something like this to get our son to sleep through the night. We made the double mistake of; a, buying this book and b, trying out the ideas in it. After a few nights of staying up, listening to our frightened child cry for his parents (and all of us getting less sleep than before I might add) we tossed out the book and went back to our old sleep patterns. So what if your child doesn't sleep through the night? Do you? Each and every night? Not likely. Everyone is different and what most new parents don't need is to be shamed into thinking this is the best system for them (see pages 77-78) he says 'shame' so many times I lost count! Save your money. Listen to your child and to your heart instead, belive me your can't go wrong that way!

I'm a first time parent and I have been having trouble with my eight month old waking up in the middle of the night, and not falling back to sleep on his own. I initially chose this book because it looked easy to read and was relatively short (I don't have alot of extra time for reading). I already had an idea of what my husband and I had done and what we were doing wrong. This book confirmed my thoughts and reinforced my beliefs about how to fix the problem. The book also helped me to convince my husband that waking up in the night is normal for a baby (and everyone else), that it is best not to rush in and pick him up as soon as he cries, and it is o.k. to let him cry for awhile. I know I would have had a hard time getting my husband to read a longer, more complicated and technical book. After only one night of following the advice in the book, my son fell back to sleep on his own and I had the best nights sleep that I've had in eight months! We did not have a major sleep problem, and some of the information is common sense, however, the book let me, a first time parent, know that my problem was not out of the ordinary and that my instincts about babies and sleep were correct. The book also offered additional information about sleep of which I was unaware, that will help with this baby now and in the future, and gave advice that I will definately follow in getting a second child off to the right start sleep-wise.

I only gave the book one star, because zero stars was not an option!

Any book that advocates shutting your child in the room and not checking on them until morning is not only medically unsound, but also cruel. You'd be better off reading Dr.'s Ferber or Sears.

Unfortunately, I did not do enough research before purchasing this book. If you are a selfish parent who can't stand being inconvenienced by your child and can live with listening to your child scream her heart out, sob until she's hiccuping, and have to fall asleep like that... hey, go for it. I lasted fifteen minutes and then said to myself... this is INSANE. She's crying, I'm standing outside her room crying, my tough Marine husband is practically in tears... for what? My two-year-old daughter will sleep through the night in her own bed eventually. Right now, she needs me to come in with her a few times a night. If that's what she needs, that's what she needs, and her needs are more important than mine. That's called parenting. All I can say to someone who can actually listen to their dear one sob and ignore it as described in this book.... well, you should have stuck with houseplants and left the parenting for those who don't mind the inconvenience of dealing with a living thing with feelings. This is an awful, awful book. Don't buy it. Buy Sears instead.

I found this book a great companion to Dr Ferber's book. This one is very easy to read, well organized, and provides pep talks if you're about to start a difficult transition with your child. However, it lacks the graduated steps of the Ferber program (check on your child after 5 minutes, then 10, etc) that is so useful in the Ferber program. I used this book a pep talk before doing the Ferber program of crying with checking in intervals, and holding the door shut for a minute at a time. It worked! The first night we tried it for my toddler (who just discovered how to climb over her bed rail and wake us up every night for the past 2 months), she cried and jumped out of bed for 2 hours, then slept through the night. The second night she cried for 10 minutes, but stayed in bed and slept through the night. The third night, she let out a cry then went to sleep! If you prefer this type of cold turkey method, use it, but with Ferber. Otherwise, try one of those no-cry solutions which takes much longer, but may suit some parents.

When our 2nd child was born and in a crib in our room, my 1st child stopped sleeping and wanted to be in our room too. After a couple weeks of sleepless nights, sobbing children (and wife), and feeling helpless, I bought this book. Within 4 days we were all sleeping happily through the night and have been ever since. This book saved my life. This book taught me that my sleep and my happiness is just as important as my children's sleep and happiness; and if your home revolves around the children, no one will be happy - you have needs too and children need boundaries. It is a win-win. The lessons taught here apply throughout a child's life. My girls are now bright and happy teenagers. I am getting this book for a friend at work whose son regularly decides he needs a glass of milk at 3am - my friend is so tired that he can barely make it through the day. Hope he (and you) find this book as useful as we did!

This book is great if you're a first-time parent and all you really need is a little pep talk to help you get your child to bed. However, if you've already figured out the "common reasons babies cry" (Is he hungry? Is he damp?) and how to childproof a room, look further. Some good information, "Babies (over 6 months old) and toddlers are not harmed by crying (if the only reason for crying is they want to be with you)", is padded with lots of common-sense lists and stories meant to encourage. In all, I found the book thin. The "program" is actually only a few pages of the 131-page book.

This book does have some concerns to me, but overall it was helpfull. People who left reviews saying they were told that they would sleep fine during some trials did not read this correctly. It clearly states if you cant handle the three day stint, dont do it! "Try what you are more comfortable with" and there were other options than the three day program. It also does not tell you to lock your child in their room and dont check on them. This book helps you understand that you dont need to run to your child the second they start crying, because then they think everything will be solved the minute they start to fuss, which leads to manipulation. I personally would not like the three day program, but this book gives good advice on how to get your child ready for bed without fuss.

This book helped me to get my 10 month old to sleep through the night. It's written well, so you don't feel bad about your child not sleeping through the night. I would recommend it for all sleepless parents.