Healthy Living Books Books

Rating: - best book Ive read and Ive read alot!
Brilliant! Finally a book that reassures you that you dont need to "teach" your baby anything, just love them and let them grow up at their own pace. My daughter sleeps well now and every morning wakes up so excited to see our faces.

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Rating: - Creating meaningful sleep associations - it works!
I bought this book when my son was 4 months old - the first time we experienced issues with his sleep, I applied some of the techniques and bingo! within a week we were sleeping peacefully again.

However, as children grow and develop so do their habits and after a spell of being poorly my son got into a habit of sleeping with me whilst he was ill. The illness passed the sleeping habit did not! So I re-visited the book. I filled in all the logs this time, which was a quick and simple way of finding out what I could do differently. It's tempting to rush in and look for solutions ( I know you're tired you want an instant result), I learnt to be patient and importantly to have faith that things will improve. At 17 months it took a little longer for my son to get back into a sleep routine which meant he slept all night. It was all about wearing a new habit and Pantley shows you just how to do this by creating new sleep associations be it a lovey/comforter, familiaristion with sleeping area, music. Have faith it does work!

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Rating: - Excellent, long-term results
I first used the ideas from this book with my daughter, who has special needs. The moment I picked up the book, it made so much sense to me--to change a habit carefully, step by step, rather than trying to quit what we'd been doing since birth "cold turkey." It took several months of patient work, but it was worth it. Every book I read tells me that children with her needs generally sleep poorly, but my daughter sleeps all night, every night. She is well-rested and that makes her better able to face her challenges and learn and grow. Since my son was born I haven't worried about his sleep because I knew I could count on this book--and indeed, he is also learning how to sleep well. With patience, this book provides excellent long-term results and many peaceful nights.

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Rating: - Please, please buy this book.
I can not recommend this book highly enough. It is an absolute must have for anyone who is exhausted but can not tolerate the idea of letting their baby 'cry it out'. Whilst some of the reviews here call it uninspiring - it is if you want a quick fix solution (such as control crying which may seem to work but at what cost to your baby!) as it may take a little time to evaluate where you are going wrong. Having said that I had already been giving the matter a great deal of thought (as you can imagine!) and so could put the ideas into practice straight away and I did get immediate positive results.

The very same night my baby slept better largely because I made certain that she got good naps throughout the day and put her in bed much earlier than I normally would. Since then I have seen a series of continual improvements and am now happy to report she is a good sleeper who LOVES to go in her cot at night and rarely wakes. This is less than 10 days after buying the book.

This book is common sense parenting.

If we had the luxury of time and a brain that wasn't addled with lack of sleep it is what we would be doing instinctively. Rather than taking the drastic (and in my opinion DANGEROUS) approach of letting your baby bawl its eyes out and feel desperately upset going to sleep, it gently helps you to expand your babies comfort zone so that he/she never enters a state of panic. It is possible to immediately see results if you are willing to accept that your baby is crying for a reason and work hard to find that reason, using the suggestions in the book.

I was told by my Heath Visitor that 'I MUST let my baby cry it out'. This angered me as I'm not the sort of person who likes being told what I must and must not do by someone who lacks imagination and doesn't know me, my baby or my situation! Also I believe babies cry - for a reason! Sure sometimes that reason is that they want attention, but why do they want it, address that and you address the problem.

My baby suffers with reflux an excess of stomach acid that builds during the day and in her case sometimes causes her discomfort and even vomiting at night which made the problem of sleeping/upset much worse. Had I been the type of person to just accept the status quo I would have followed my HV's advice and let her vomit and carry on control crying. WHAT???

If something goes against your instincts as a parent to that extent how can it possibly be right?

Instead I looked for my own solutions to help with the stomach problems and then just needed to work through the sleep problems - with Pantley's help!

I look at it this way - how easily can you get to sleep when you are upset, overtired, hungry, sore, ill, lonely??? Why expect your baby to be able to cope with things that you can't as an adult?

Instead learn to recognise what your child is trying to tell you and then deal with it.

Many of the ideas in this ring true - why? because it has been written by a mother who followed her instincts and found out what works and what doesn't. Sure she may not have a formal qualification as one of the other reviewers states (erm - who has a formal qualification in child sleep?) but as a mother of four she is more than qualified as far as I am concerned.

Whats more the book gives you the confidence that you are doing the right thing by not going down the CC route, and enables you to stick to your guns and tell other control crying advocates why that is a bad solution, quoting Pantley's research :-).

For those that want to follow a defined process and step by step guide it gives you that, for others like myself who have already thought this through you may flick through the pages and suddenly happen upon the solution that's right for you - a lightbulb moment when you think to yourself why on earth hadn't I realised/tried that before - because you're too tired that's why!

I am urging every parent, health care worker, baby formus etc I can to buy this book as I really do believe it is the foundation for good parenting.

I will also be buying all of Pantley's other books to make sure I make fewer mistakes in the future.

One last piece of advice - if you are going to try a new routine for your baby, do it bit by bit to access what is having a positive impact and so as not to panic your child. And, to give you the energy you need to try something new, let someone else bear the brunt of looking after your little one for a few hours night so you can re-charge your batteries. Don't worry if this is not possible as its not a pre-requisite for success, it just helps.

Good luck and remember the easiest solution is not always the best. Muster up what patience and energy you have left and read the book, if read and used correctly it will help you to change things for the better, I promise.

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Rating: - Good if one size fits all
This book is one of many on how to get your child to sleep happily. The solution it offers is a very reasonable and workable one, though it still makes the mistake of expecting everyone to follow the same process. This just doesn't work as there will always be babies/parents/lifestyles that don't fit any singlesolution. However if you had to pick one approach this would be as good as any being pretty middle of the road and gentle without taking it to extremes. If you want the confidence of following a single method, i'd recommend this one.