Sleep Book Summaries | Cry-It-Out Methods | Ferber, Mindell, Weissbluth

These mini-reviews are optional additional content designed to accompany the sleep tools in Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler by Ann Douglas (Wiley, 2006).

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition by Richard Ferber, M.D.: Dr. Ferber's classic guide to sleep training. The Ferber method is one of the few methods to have been studied in clinical trials. It has been proven to reduce the severity of postpartum depression in a group of depressed mothers in Australia. That's not to say the method is good, bad, or the right one for you. I'm just pointing out that we actually have some clinical data about this method. Note: Wendy Hall, a UBC researcher, has pointed out, quite rightly, that we need a lot more research into the relative merits of various sleep training methods. She says it's no wonder we have so much conflicting evidence -- and that parents are so confused. She says we need to treat sleep research as a priority, just as we treat nutritional research.

Sleeping Through the Night, Revised Edition: How Infants, Toddlers, and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night's Sleep by Jodi Mindell, PhD: Jodi Mindell does a fabulous job of explaining infant sleep patterns and all of her sleep recommendations/tips are solidly backed by research. Her tone is warm and reassuring and her credentials are impeccable. (She is one of America's top sleep experts.) Even if you find the cry-it-out method a bit too tough, you can still pick up plenty of valuable information from Mindell's book.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc S. Weissbluth, M.D.: Marc Weissbluth's book has a lot of useful information on how sleep cycles evolve in babies and young children and what parents can do to promote healthy sleep habits. You don't have to agree with everything he says in this book or decide to use his sleep training methods to glean very valuable information from this book that you can then apply to your child/family's situation. Consider this a really solid "sleep science" title.

Comments

[steven davies]

Our toddler have problem with sleeping and I really hope your tips will help him to overcome it.

[pinkHammer]

Where do I purchase these books? I don' think they have them here in our place.

[SnoringTom]

Thank you for this post, it was really interesting to read.

[Siabh]

I'm trying to get my head around leaving our nine month old to cry for more than a few minutes. It's hard! Thanks for the info.

My blog about our problems and experiences with baby is here: http://siabhmaevetalk.blogspot.com/

[Maggie Tan]

I've tried many methods, desperately needing something different to try with my baby.

[Snoring Remedies Bakersfield]

I am following these tips for my toddler who has trouble with sleep.

[Jim Al-Hid]

We have a problematic sleeper, and having read many books and talk to many other parents in similar situations,the one truism I have found is that every child is different. What works for some doesn't work for others. Always good to find some new techniques to see how they work. Thanks for the tips.

[sleep positioner]

Same with my toddler. She wake up on midnight and just play side of me. This is a good tips for us.

[Insomnia help]

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.

[anti snoring device]

Most often at night, we are suffering from the noise coming from the baby here in our house. And I'm glad I found your blog and was informed about the articles you been posted here. Also there are some tips on how to prevent snoring problems during the time you are supposed to sleep at night. There are devices on these common problems that most of the people encountering. I will visit your site as often as I could.

[Mark Person]

Really! watching your baby sleeping really can help you relax and put away stress form your work and other things. but not all parents can easily make their babies put on to sleep. some are really having a hard time on making their baby sleep. I agree with you. it seems a good advice for other parents struggling on putting their babies to sleep. if you will meet some kind of problem like this, you can refer to the older ones or search for blogs in the internet like this site http://babysleephq.com/. it really helps and really gives you a great tips on handling babies.

[Pam]

Hey great blog post thanks, I have been looking for resources on sleeping problems for ages as I suffer quite badly from a lack of sleep and I am unsure whether it is insomnia or something more physical like the bed itself. So thanks.