family health

Sleep is one subject that those birthing and parenting classes do not seem to touch on; and it is the one topic that is vital to the development of a healthy relationship between parents and child. When the baby doesn't sleep, the parents don't either; and when parents don't sleep, they are not able to care for their children they way they want and need to. After 6 sleepless weeks after my daughter was born, and raging postpartum depression, I somehow discovered this book and read it in one sitting. I tried Dr. Weissbluth's suggestions that very day and immediately started noticing results. My daughter's 'naps' (as they were) became more regular, more predictable, and her mood improved (as did mine). We incorporated each of the age-specific suggestions into our daughter's sleep routines and with seemingly no effort at all we now have a 14 month old who still takes two 1 hour naps daily and sleeps uninterrupted from 6:30 pm to 7:15 am, when she literally wakes up laughing. She does not protest naps or bedtime. She is a bright, sociable, adaptable, unafraid, happy little girl who always gets the rest she needs. Parents must not feel guilty about ensuring their children rest when they need to, for if they were hungry you would feed them, wouldn't you? When they are tired, they need to sleep. His techniques can be started at any age. I wish I received a commission for each book I bought for my friends; they have had success with it also. It does get better, and this book can help.

I know that everybody wants to throw advise onto new parents. But, we *happened* upon this book and it was wonderful for our family. Weisbluth explains the biology of sleep first, which then helps you understand the necessity of a child *learning* to fall asleep. Our three- month old child is doing so well now. And is SO incredible happy in the mornings! We race to her at 7:00am to see her smiles! I know that a lot of parents think that it is cruel to leave your baby to cry to go to sleep. Our baby cried 40 minutes the first night and it nearly made me crazy. The second night, she cried for 5 minutes. Then, since, she rarely cries at all. You are not a bad person if you let your baby cry because he or she is tired. You are helping to teach the child how to fall asleep on his/her own. Good luck to all of you! And, pleasant dreams!

I bought this book when my little one was 4 months old. It saved her and us. I only wish I had read the book while I was pregnant. I have since given this book to 3 friends when they had newborns (including twins) and they all followed Dr. Weissbluth's advice and we all have the BEST sleepers. My firends were lucky though to have avoided all the heartache we had after only 4 months of bad habits.

Dr. Weissbluth is very respectful of parents having different theories and approaches to parenting. He helps you implement healthy sleep habits for children of all ages no matter what your parenting style is.

The anecdotes are helpful in making you realise you are not alone and these are not just theories someone made up in someone's office.

We have even avoided common pitfalls when babies go through teething, vaccines, colds etc.

The book is written in a respectful caring way. You can trust this Dr.'s experience.

This book is relevant for all familes with babies you and old.