Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler :: the blog

Sleep Solutions Book Blog Tour, Day 6

At the Motherlode last weekend, Andi Buchanan was almost deliriously happy about the fact that she was able to take advantage of the extra hour of sleep provided by "fall back" for the first time ever as a mom. I'm sure many of the other conference attendees felt the same way. After all, that's one of the things that people don't tell you ahead of time when you're thinking about having kids: when the clocks shift on that first Sunday morning, your kids don't make the shift, so you miss out on the chance to sleep in.

While we're talking sleep, I thought I should wrap up some loose ends on the Sleep Solutions Book Blog tour. (I had limited access to the Internet last week, what with the Motherlode Conference and all.) So here's what was going on while I was AWOL:

• Kyra of This Mom was talking about how refreshing it is to read a book that didn't offer pat solutions or lay on the guilt -- and she pronounced the book "fantastically helpful." She also said some absolutely lovely things about me, so I'm going to be bookmarking this post for those Very Bad Days/Weeks/Months as an Author. (What am I saying? I'm going to wallpaper my office with it. We'll call this new print Kyra.)


• Tertia of So Close took some time out from her own book tour to talk about what she liked about Sleep Solutions. She likes the book's warm and welcoming tone ("There is no guilt: no judgment, no moral high ground, just an acknowledgment that different solutions work for different sleep problems in individual children.") She highly recommends the book for moms-to-be.


• Meanwhile, Tracey of Picture This was busy ooh-ing and aah-ing over the entries in the "Sleeping Like a Baby" photo contest, trying to pick the winners.

Thanks to everyone who made this blog tour so much successful and so much fun -- the bloggers, the blog commenters, and Andi and Miriam of MotherTalk.

Bedtime Reading
Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage
Blog Book Tour: Day Six | Day Five | Day Four | Day Three | Day Two | Day One | Sleeping Like a Baby Photo Contest Winners | Roundup of Comments.

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Sleep Solutions Book Blog Tour, Day 5

Book Blog Tour - Day 5
A couple of the bloggers who were scheduled to blog this week have had to ask for extra time, either because they're feeling just plain miserable (poor Kyra) or because it took their copy of Sleep Solutions forever to find its way to their side of the Planet and they needed a bit of extra time to read the book and think about what they wanted to say. So we won't be putting this sleep book blog tour to bed until sometime next week. (Exact timing TBA. Parenting book tours, like parenting itself, should be flexible and open-ended, don't you think?)
But I'm getting ahead of myself, as usual. We've still got to talk about today -- and, as you can see -- we've got plenty of sleep book blogging action going on. Here's whose been saying what and where.

• Boston Mommy Meredith O'Brien -- a parent who has done some heavy-duty time in the sleep-deprivation trenches, by the sounds of it (she tells us that her youngest didn't sleep through the night or in his own bed until he was three) -- had the same reaction to Sleep Solutions as many exhausted parents might when confronted with yet another new sleep book: "I eyed it with a great deal of suspicion and skepticism." But in the end, the book proved itself: "As I perused the pages, noting its gentle approach -- no "if-your-kid-ain't-sleepin'-you-suck" messages coated with a clinical or authoritative veneer -- I found myself wishing I had this book when I was scraping by on precious little sleep as the mother of a baby and twin toddlers."


• SheKnows Pregnancy & Baby is featuring a roundup of my articles
  about babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and sleep.


• If you swing over to Dot-Moms, you'll see that Anjali and I found plenty to talk about once we started talking sleep. And this is the edited-down version of the interview. It could have been so much longer. What can I say? Anjali asked me some really thoughtful and inspiring questions.


• For more about babies and sleep and books and blogging and other good things, stay tuned to this blog and MotherTalk.

Bedtime Reading
Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage


Blog Book Tour: Day Five | Day Four | Day Three | Day Two | Day One

blog tours

Sleep Solutions Book Blog Tour, Day 4

Book Blog Tour - Day 4
As you can see from the dates of two of these posts, two of these bloggers were busy blogging away yesterday afternoon. I was worried that their posts might be missed if I spliced their posts into yesterday morning's post after the fact (I know that these book bloggers put a lot of work into their book reviews and I'd feel terrible if their hard work was overlooked) so I decided to link them in this morning.

• First stop -- Mandajuice: Poor Manda clearly didn't know that she was about to be zapped by the Ann Douglas Friday the 13th curse when she agreed to be part of this book blog tour. Her daughter, who had been sleeping well until she became part of the book blog team, suddenly developed sleep problems: "I think the moment I pressed send on that e-mail was the moment Genoa decided to stop sleeping through the night. When the book arrived two weeks later, I had spent the past ten nights wondering if I would ever sleep again."
• Next stop -- The Life and Times of This New Mommy: K., who is pregnant with baby number two, has test-driven the book in her own home on her very own toddler and has found that the book has something to offer (very) tired parents. Even tired pregnant parents. She also likes the book's non-judgemental approach to sleep options: "Douglas does not chastise you for choosing to co-sleep, but instead offers suggestions on how to do it safely," she notes.
• Third stop -- ParentHacks: Asha, whose highly popular and much-loved parenting site is firmly grounded in the parents-know-best philosophy. In her review, Asha concludes (correctly) that I wouldn't mind being called "the Anti-Expert" by ParentHacks. I think that's about the highest praise a parenting author could hope for from Asha & Company. And Asha totally gets what this book is about -- and what I'm trying to do through my writing in general. Mind if I shout this for a moment? It feels so great to be understood! She writes: "My favorite thing about this book...is the recognition that one size does not fit all. Ann makes very clear throughout the book that pressure and guilt have no part in the sleep debate. That's my kind of expert."
• For more about babies and sleep and books and blogging and other good things, stay tuned to this blog and MotherTalk.

Bedtime Reading Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage
Blog Book Tour: Day Four | Day Three | Day Two | Day One

blog tour

Sleep Solutions Book Blog Tour, Day 3

One of the bloggers was up in the wee hours of the morning working on her post, so we're going to start with her. I happen to know that this is her usual modus operandi because when she and I were working closely together on the sleep book, we'd often flip emails back and forth at some insane time of the night/morning -- a time of night/morning when most other people (other than parents with young children, shift workers, and people on the other side of the world) were tucked snuggly in their beds, fast asleep.

• And as you'll discover when you read Marla (Hello Josephine)'s post, she provided more than just technical reviewing services for me. She provided author therapy, too (and, trust me, that was a tough part of the gig). She provides a revealing look at herself, me, bookmaking, and sleep in this wonderful post. The photoessay at the bottom is totally Marla-esque and Josie-esque, which, of course, means magnificent.
• Next stop, the playground -- Miriam Peskowitz's Playground Revolution, to be specific. In a post called "The Antidote to American Parenting Competition," Miriam (author of The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars) talks about what Sleep Solutions has to offer parents who are tired of all the competition in parenting, particularly around issues like sleep: "The book is filled with stories and advice from mothers, too, so it feels like going to the playground and getting mom wisdom just when you need it, as well as the friendship of other mothers. When so many parents feel judged as good or bad depending on whether their children sleep well, Ann Douglas offers an entirely different sensibility, totally outside the screed of American parenting competition." Miriam also blogs over at Everyday Mom.
• Jenny at Three Kid Circus is clearly a reader after my own heart -- someone who loves the stuff at the back of books, organizational charts, indexes -- the "guts" that make a book work. I think she was impressed. "Brilliant" sounds pretty positive. :-) She adds: "Sleep Solutions is a quick, entertaining read, full of real-life questions and answers from Ann's extensive research and interviews. I was tickled to read quotes from blogging mothers. Most of all, I appreciated the even-handed, unbiaised approach, presented in a way that even the most sleep-deprived of parents could easily find ideas and form a plan of action. Even as an eight year veteran of the Sleep Wars, there was new, reassuring information in here for me. I particularly enjoyed the relaxation techniques for preschoolers. We've already put the "sound of silence" into action, and it is working like a charm!"
• For more about babies and sleep and books and blogging and other good things, stay tuned to The Mother of All Blogs and MotherTalk.

Bedtime Reading Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage
Blog Book Tour: Day Three |  Day Two |  Day One

parenting

Sleep Solutions Book Blog Tour, Day 2

Book Blog Tour - Day 2

Good morning. Or at least I hope it's a "good morning" at your place. I know that can depend a lot on how the night went -- or how early your morning started. And if you're a night owl who has been parachuted into a house of early risers, you may sometimes worry that you're not providing your baby with a lot of early-morning brain stimulation -- unless conversation like "Mmmm" counts. (I think it does. Babies need to learn consonants, too, you know. Whole words are highly over-rated.)

Anyway, we're back into the sleep trenches for Book Blog Day Two. (If you can say that without tripping on your words, you may not be quite as sleep deprived as you feel. Poor yourself another cup of coffee to celebrate. Yeah, you!)

Today, we're swinging by the blogs of

• Sarah of Citizen Beta, another one of the moms from my sleep book panel, who introduces us to her daughter "sleepy vampire" and talks about what she's learned -- and is learning -- about sleep. ("'Sleeping through the night' is often an impossible ideal and we should take comfort in smaller victories," she notes. Sarah has so many other great insights to share about sleep, and she's not afraid to be honest about how tough it can be to reach sleep nirvana as a parent. This post is definitely worth checking out.)


• Danigirl of Postcards from the Mothership -- a mom who also offers a fabulously informative, soul-wrenching and funny behind-the-scenes reinactment of her own times in the sleep-deprivation trenches. (One thing puzzles me, however. Danigirl seems to become more articulate when she's sleep deprived, unlike the rest of us, who can barely piece together a coherent sentence, let alone all these amazing blog posts documenting the effects of cry-it-out and sleep deprivation on the mom psyche. Someone needs to get a research grant to study Danigirl. She's clearly got a back-up brain or something. Very impressive.)


• Jenn of Jenn's Journal at ClubMom -- who sounds like one mega-tired and mega-discouraged mom (poor Jenn) -- does a great job of explaining what my book has to offer. I love the fact that she tells you that my book hasn't solved all her problems yet. (She only got the book a week ago, and if my book had delivered that kind of quick fix, I think it would have been more a case of good timing than anything else. I don't believe in quick-fix solutions and I don't promise them in my book.)


• Andi of Mothershock and I talk about sleep guilt, good babies (yuck), good mothers (double yuck), and how I ended up being four months overdue with this book. (I tend to go overdue with my pregnancies, but really.)


• For more about babies and sleep and books and blogging and other good things, stay tuned to The Mother of All Blogs and MotherTalk.

Bedtime Reading
Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage
Blog Book Tour: Day Three |  Day Two |  Day One

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Sleep Solutions Book Blog Tour, Day 1

The Sleep Solutions Book Blog Tour is now officially underway! Here's where you can find the posts from today's bloggers and enter a fun baby sleep photo contest....

Mother May I: Get the lowdown on life after baby and what prominent blogger Tracey Clark has to say about Sleep Solutions. Here's an excerpt from her detailed and thoughtful review: ""In a parenting world full of black and white methods, damaging labels, and divisive schools of beliefs, it’s nice to know someone is finally writing honestly, openly, and kindly to parents without their own agenda in mind."
Picture This: I Heart Sleep: Find out how you can enter your photo in the "Sleeping Like a Baby" photo contest @ Flickr. (Yes, there are prizes!)
Life is Good...At the Beach: One of the 200+ parents who participated in the parent panel for this book talks about how she became involved with the project.
The Smartmouth Mombie: Another member of the parent panel for the book talks about what real parents want from sleep books. (I took Chris' input into consideration right from the moment I started writing Sleep Solutions, by the way. Wasn't I lucky to have her on board?

Sleep Help for Tired Parents:
Sleep Articles, Links, and Other Resources
Sleep Solutions Book Info @ Amazon.com: Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage
Sleep Solutions Book Info @ Amazon.ca: Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage

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