Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition 
asked by goonball on November 24, 2006 4:56 AM
When your child isn't sleeping, chances are that you aren't either. Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems--a tired parent's essential for more than 10 years--offers valuable advice and concrete help when lullabies aren't enough to lull your child into dreamland. Based on Ferber's research as the director of Boston's Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital, the book is a practical, easy-to-understand guide to common sleeping problems for children ages one to six. Detailed case histories on night waking, difficulty sleeping, and more serious disorders such as sleep apnea and sleepwalking help illustrate a wide variety of problems and their solutions. New parents will benefit from Ferber's proactive advice on developing good sleeping patterns and daily schedules to ensure that sleeping problems don't develop in the first place. You'll also find a bibliography of children's books on bedtime, sleep, and dreaming, as well as a list of helpful organizations. Here's a book that is sure to put you and your whole family to sleep--in this case, that's a good thing.
Reviews
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I purchased this book after first reading "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley and "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. The no cry book was completely useless. I hated to hear my 4 month old cry and always carried him about, but I was so exhausted from his night wakings that I needed a real solution. Dr. Weissbluth's book had some good information but I found the structure a bit disorganized and it was not as helpful as Dr. Ferber's book. "Solve your Child's Sleep Problems" clearly states how important it is for a child to learn how to fall asleep alone in order to attain good quality, consolidated (non-fragmented) sleep. My son was waking 5-6 times a night screaming out until his pacifier was replaced. 1-2 times at night I would nurse him when he wouldn't fall back asleep immediately. So neither he nor I ever got more than 2-3 hours consolidated sleep. This book gave me the courage to take away my son's pacifier and comfort him briefly every 10 minutes until he fell asleep without it, alone. I hated to hear him cry but I knew we had to do it for his sleep as well as mine. By checking on him every 10 minutes he knew I was there for him. He cried about an hour and finally fell asleep on his own in-between my visits. It was the hardest thing I had ever done and in hindsight one of the best things I've done for him. In about 2 days he was falling asleep on his own without any crying and he was waking up much happier (cooing). He is now a great sleeper (sleeps 10-12 hours straight) and much more rested with quality sleep. The book has tons of information for many other common and more sever sleep issues. This book really was a lifesaver to me. I am so grateful to get some sleep at night now and I feel like my Self again.
reviewed by papi on November 28, 2006 9:04 PM
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They should erect monuments in Dr. Ferber's honor. After sleeping through the night for a month, my infant son started waking up every 2 - 3 hours. Dr. Ferber's explanation made perfect sense - so much so that I would laugh out loud at how my actions were, in fact, reinforcing my son's sleep patterns. After one night of following Dr. Ferber's instruction, my sons was back to sleeping 9 hours in a row and so were my husband & I!!
I think every parent, regardless of their child's age, should have this book.
I think every parent, regardless of their child's age, should have this book.
reviewed by tacos on November 29, 2006 1:29 PM
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We tried this with our little 7 month old daughter. Either it didn't work, or we were somehow messing it up...
...Well, a few months later after her first birthday, we tried it again. After 3 nights (of really ticked off screaming at us from her room), she fell asleep on her own and didn't wake up until morning, a bright eyed and well rested little kid.
A few months later, we moved and schedules got messy and she had a completely wacked out sleeping pattern (wouldn't sleep till midnight, woke up at 3, slept until 9, and it varied everyday). I reread Dr Ferber, and this book helped us fix her 'circadian cycle' and now she is sleeping on her own from 8 until 7.
Dr ferber has said that this may not work with every child, and that is true. But if you are near the end of your rope, it is worth seeing if it will work with your little one.
Dr ferber is an educated, experienced father and doctor, and I'm grateful we had access to his advice.
Why reinvent the wheel? Why try to figure out a solution to a problem that someone has already fixed?
PS I am a devoted stay at home mom, and I detest other reviewers comments about how this book is only for those parents who don't parent during the day AND night. psshh.
...Well, a few months later after her first birthday, we tried it again. After 3 nights (of really ticked off screaming at us from her room), she fell asleep on her own and didn't wake up until morning, a bright eyed and well rested little kid.
A few months later, we moved and schedules got messy and she had a completely wacked out sleeping pattern (wouldn't sleep till midnight, woke up at 3, slept until 9, and it varied everyday). I reread Dr Ferber, and this book helped us fix her 'circadian cycle' and now she is sleeping on her own from 8 until 7.
Dr ferber has said that this may not work with every child, and that is true. But if you are near the end of your rope, it is worth seeing if it will work with your little one.
Dr ferber is an educated, experienced father and doctor, and I'm grateful we had access to his advice.
Why reinvent the wheel? Why try to figure out a solution to a problem that someone has already fixed?
PS I am a devoted stay at home mom, and I detest other reviewers comments about how this book is only for those parents who don't parent during the day AND night. psshh.
reviewed by savvy on November 29, 2006 2:12 PM
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I am a mother of 6 month old twins who recently *both* were waking every 1 to 2 hours on some nights. I read this book after trying No-Cry Sleep Solution for a month with lots of improvment on everything *except* the number of night-wakings. The girls fell asleep faster, easier, and with less help - but kept waking up, dropping only about one night-waking.
Personally, I would never do the Ferberizing technique unless everything else failed. Especially not with twins who wake each other up when they cry unless their sibling is in deep sleep. However, I was able to use the information in this book to decide when to let my babies cry a little with No-Cry Sleep Solution techniques and get results. I was able to cut the night-waking in half after three days by adding less than ten minutes of crying into their nights - mostly while using the Gentle Removal Plan from No-Cry Sleep Solution. Apparently one of my girls especially needed longer than the few seconds before she started crying to be nursing-free in order to fall asleep on her own and break her sucking-to-sleep association. By letting her cry for a minute or less, I think I was able to give her a better chance to put herself to sleep.
I don't like Ferberizing as a technique, but people who insist that "Ferberizers" don't parent at night have obviously never had hourly-or-more frequent nightwakings cause sleep deprivation so acute that they became nauseous every time they moved, dizzy, extremely irritable, shivering with cold, and more. There is a point when you are so tired your night-waking child will cry an hour or more a night whether you Ferberize or not, because you are too tired to respond appropriately no matter how attached you are. Days won't be too pleasant, either.
I recommend No-Cry Sleep Solution for ngiht-waking first, as long as you can afford to work with your children for some time and don't need immediate results. She also has a gentler crying method that is similar to Ferber's method, but not as extreme or harsh - but should still give faster results, if you need to regain sleep fast. However, the info on sleep associations in Ferber's book is a good complement to Pantley's book, and he has some other information on child sleep that may be useful. If you feel comfortable trying out a self-designed sleep solution that you create for your child(ren) specifically, this book has useful information and ideas that you may be able to adapt to your situation.
Oh, yes - take Ferber's ideas regarding breastfed babies with a grain of salt. His expectations for baby eating requirements are the opposite of all the breastfeeding specialists I know of, who do say that breastfed babies may need to eat at night even after a year of age. He's dealing with bottle-and-crib babies primarily. His theories about why cosleeping is bad are just plain laughable.
Personally, I would never do the Ferberizing technique unless everything else failed. Especially not with twins who wake each other up when they cry unless their sibling is in deep sleep. However, I was able to use the information in this book to decide when to let my babies cry a little with No-Cry Sleep Solution techniques and get results. I was able to cut the night-waking in half after three days by adding less than ten minutes of crying into their nights - mostly while using the Gentle Removal Plan from No-Cry Sleep Solution. Apparently one of my girls especially needed longer than the few seconds before she started crying to be nursing-free in order to fall asleep on her own and break her sucking-to-sleep association. By letting her cry for a minute or less, I think I was able to give her a better chance to put herself to sleep.
I don't like Ferberizing as a technique, but people who insist that "Ferberizers" don't parent at night have obviously never had hourly-or-more frequent nightwakings cause sleep deprivation so acute that they became nauseous every time they moved, dizzy, extremely irritable, shivering with cold, and more. There is a point when you are so tired your night-waking child will cry an hour or more a night whether you Ferberize or not, because you are too tired to respond appropriately no matter how attached you are. Days won't be too pleasant, either.
I recommend No-Cry Sleep Solution for ngiht-waking first, as long as you can afford to work with your children for some time and don't need immediate results. She also has a gentler crying method that is similar to Ferber's method, but not as extreme or harsh - but should still give faster results, if you need to regain sleep fast. However, the info on sleep associations in Ferber's book is a good complement to Pantley's book, and he has some other information on child sleep that may be useful. If you feel comfortable trying out a self-designed sleep solution that you create for your child(ren) specifically, this book has useful information and ideas that you may be able to adapt to your situation.
Oh, yes - take Ferber's ideas regarding breastfed babies with a grain of salt. His expectations for baby eating requirements are the opposite of all the breastfeeding specialists I know of, who do say that breastfed babies may need to eat at night even after a year of age. He's dealing with bottle-and-crib babies primarily. His theories about why cosleeping is bad are just plain laughable.
reviewed by waltersmith on November 29, 2006 3:29 PM