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anndempsey's review against another edition
5.0
I credit this book with cutting our 3year old's meltdowns at least in half. Our house is a lot happier since I started reading this book. I find myself referencing it all the time in conversations.
roscoehuxley's review against another edition
5.0
Where was this book when my kids were younger? I will recommend this book to parents with young kids to counter the evil "cry-it-out" philosophy. Even with older kids, this was full of excellent ideas to help those nights when it's hard to get to sleep.
badassmama's review against another edition
4.0
terrifically useful for understanding on why sleep is so important and how to focus on it to better meet our family's needs
torybug's review against another edition
4.0
This picked up on a lot of the themes in "Simplicity Parenting", which has shaped many of my ideas about raising kids. Namely, that our kids do better with less overstimulation and more rest, more space. I wish there was more in here about helping the ADULTS in the family to sleep better!
deannah's review against another edition
5.0
Probably the best book I have read on sleeping, and at this point, I have read quite a number. It isn't like your other typical sleep books--it doesn't fall into one specific sleep camp (i.e. cry it out, don't cry it out.) Also, it isn't directed towards infants. Rather she takes a whole family approach--how to get your family (all of your kids regardless of age) to sleep better.
The most illuminating and life-changing aspect of this book was the discussion of temperament and how that will influence your child's ability to get ready to sleep. She looks at intensity, sensitivity, adaptability, energy level, and regularity of body rhythms. Depending on where you child lies on each spectrum, he might be more challenged in switching his clock to sleep. I felt like she was describing my child, especially when she says, "The advice to teach the intense child to calm himself by letting him cry does NOT work. Because of his physiological makeup, he has great difficulty calming himself, and can cry for hours, vomiting as his distress increases." YES!
Will probably have to purchase this book to have as a reference.
The most illuminating and life-changing aspect of this book was the discussion of temperament and how that will influence your child's ability to get ready to sleep. She looks at intensity, sensitivity, adaptability, energy level, and regularity of body rhythms. Depending on where you child lies on each spectrum, he might be more challenged in switching his clock to sleep. I felt like she was describing my child, especially when she says, "The advice to teach the intense child to calm himself by letting him cry does NOT work. Because of his physiological makeup, he has great difficulty calming himself, and can cry for hours, vomiting as his distress increases." YES!
Will probably have to purchase this book to have as a reference.
gemmadee's review against another edition
4.0
The best of the bunch. I keep going back to this one as we continue to modify our approach to bedtime and night wakings. Although all the sleep books claim to be unique in looking for an alternative to "crying it out," they all seem to have basically the same advice and basic sleep science background information. But this one does the best job of balancing scientific basis with practical exercises. It is also the only one that assumes the reader has a child who is genuinely not getting enough sleep, and not that the parent is suffering from unrealistic expectations.
samlencioni's review against another edition
5.0
Very helpful and validating if standard sleep advice has not helped.
cassie_jean's review against another edition
5.0
Even if none of the suggestions in this book work for my child, it's still a 5 star book because it made me feel ok about not wanting to let my child cry it out, it made me feel ok that my child is different than other children, and it never once tried to give a one-size-fits-all suggestion. This book says it's ok to learn and improve as you go and you're not a terrible parent because such and such method didn't work when you tried it (you must have done it wrong because it works for every other parent in the entire world).
sylyons's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great read. Very down-to-earth, informative, and practical. The author was very realistic with what to expect and I love how she had general suggestions for each type of child in each category. I would recommend this to other parents.