Books to Help Sleep Train Infants, Toddlers and Older Children
I spent a lot of time researching books to help sleep train my triplets as infants. After months of sleepless nights for my husband and I, we finally came to the realization that we needed help from an expert. There was simply no way we could get these three babies to sleep at the same time. If we had just one baby, we probably would have brought the baby into bed with us using the co-sleeping method to comfort the baby, but bringing three babies into bed was inconceivable for us. Once I learned that sleep training was possible, I was sold on the concept and ready to get started.
I read a lot of reviews on various books to help sleep train babies including On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam and The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg, but the book that really caught my attention was Dr. Marc Weissbluth’s Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Dr. Weissbluth advocates that the most important thing is to have a well-rested family, which gives parents more patience, energy and better spirits to help care for their babies. This theory spoke to me as I could see myself not being the best parent I could because I was so exhausted.
In Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, Dr. Weissbluth explains that it’s a waste of time to begin sleep training before babies are at least 6 weeks old (6 weeks adjusted age for preemies). Prior to six weeks, babies’ internal clocks cannot tell the difference between night and day and thinking you can successfully get them to sleep any better when it’s dark out versus light is useless. In fact, he explains that a baby’s fussiness peaks at 6 weeks. Dr. Weissbluth suggests that sleep training begin after 6 weeks of age when babies are developing sleep patterns and are capable of sleeping for longer periods of time at night due to the development of their internal clock.
He explains that it’s important that parents respect their baby’s need for sleep and be aware of drowsy signals. He also advocates earlier bedtimes, bedtime routines and consistency in not just babies’ nap schedules but all parts of the daily schedule. In my experience, the best part of this book was understanding the importance of allowing babies to learn to self-soothe and become better sleepers. The book also helps you understand why the cry-it-out method is an integral part to teaching babies to self soothe rather than their being dependent on parents or objects (like pacifiers) to help them sleep.
Dr. Weissbluth’s book is helpful to parents of infants through adolescence. The information is presented clearly. Chapters are broken down by age, and each chapter includes his theories, detailed examples from real clients Dr. Weissbluth helped and action plans for exhausted parents. He teaches parents how to sleep train infants, deal with special events like vacations or daylight savings and tackle various sleep-related problems throughout a child’s life. This book was a lifesaver for my family. Our lives improved dramatically after implementing many of the techniques in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and I highly recommend it.
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