The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep from Birth to Age 5 by Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack: One of the newest arrivals on the sleep book shelf. What makes this book stand out is the fact that it's clearly written to both mom and dad (as opposed to just mom). After all, sleep is both parents' problem -- or it will be soon, if mom gets too sleep deprived. The book assumes that the couple is heterosexual (hence the "marriage-saver" advice). It's a great idea to get both partners talking about sleep, ideally before baby arrives, so if you're planning to buy this guide for a friend, make it a pre-baby purchase.
Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage (Mother of All Solutions) by Ann Douglas: This one is my book. I don't favor any one sleep training method. I think that would be kind of presumptuous of me, given that I've never had the privilege of meeting you or your baby and I don't know anything about your parenting style, your family's circumstances, or your child's age/developmental stage. Instead, I provide you with an explanation of the science behind each of the major sleep training schools of thought (and an indication of how each method might mesh with your parenting philosophies) so you can make up your mind for yourself. The book also features stories, anecdotes, and tips from the more than 200 parents who served as members of the parent advisory panel for the book.They talk about how unprepared they felt for the sleep deprivation of early parenthood, how judged they felt by other parents if those parents made other sleep choices than they did ("You can't talk sleep training with other parents." one mom concluded. "It's like religion and politics."); about co-sleeping (both pro and con), co-parenting (partners who were helpful and partners who were not), and the "high stakes" feeling that surrounds the whole sleep debate.
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