Product Description

A breakthrough approach that offers hope to exhausted parents looking for gentle ways to help their baby sleep without the heart-wrenching tears. Until now the only two ways to deal with sleepless nights were to let your baby cry herself to sleep or to become a sleep-deprived martyr and tough it out from dusk until dawn. The No-Cry Sleep Solution will show you how it is entirely possible and within your grasp to help your baby fall asleep peacefully--and stay asleep all night long.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #237 in Books
• Brand: The McGraw-Hill Companies
• Published on: 2002-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 254 pages

From the Back Cover

"At long last, I've found a book that I can hand to weary parents with the confidence that they can learn to help their baby sleep through the night--without the baby crying it out."
--William Sears, M.D., Author of The Baby Book

"When I followed the steps in this book, it only took a few nights to see a HUGE improvement. Now every night I'm getting more sleep than I've gotten in years! The best part is, there has been NO crying!"
--Becky, mother of 13-month-old Melissa

A breakthrough approach that offers hope to exhausted parents looking for gentle ways to help their baby sleep without the heart-wrenching tears

Are you suffering through sleepless nights and having to fend off a barrage of heartless advice about letting your baby "cry it out"? The No-Cry Sleep Solution will show you how it is entirely possible and within your grasp to help your baby fall asleep peacefully--and stay asleep all night long.

Until now the only two ways to deal with sleepless nights were to let your baby cry herself to sleep or to become a sleep-deprived martyr and tough it out from dusk until dawn. At last, there is a practical and effective third way, thanks to Elizabeth Pantley, a parent educator and mother of four. Pantley is like a best friend who's been there and is full of caring advice to help you and your baby get a good night's sleep. Her ten-step will lead you through the process one day at a time by:

• Shedding new light on your baby's sleep patterns and helping you set realistic goals
• Showing you how to analyze, assess, and improve your baby's sleep patterns using sleep logs
• Offering a variety of sleep solutions that fit every parenting style, whether you cosleep with your baby or she sleeps in a crib or whether you breastfeed or bottlefeed
• Creating a tear-free customized sleep plan that works for both you and your baby

Don't let sleep deprivation keep you from enjoying your baby. The No-Cry Sleep Solution is full of reassuring advice and words of wisdom from other parents who have had success with the program. It will give you the tools you need to effectively and gently reach your goal--a good night's sleep for everyone.

About the Author

Elizabeth Pantley, author and parent educator, is frequently quoted in numerous magazines including Parents and Parenting. She and her husband live in Washington state with their four children--and all sleep through the night.

Customer Reviews

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!
At first when I read this book it seemed too involved and I was a tad bit turned off by what seemed like a lot of work. I set the book aside and admittedly didn't follow it to the T. I did however implement some of the basic ideas, no nursing/sucking to sleep and gradually assisting to sleep less and less etc and what I have now is a baby that puts himself to sleep without ever having to let him cry it out. I did try the cry it out method, I tried it after reading this book thinking that this book was too involved but I just couldn't do it and I don't think my son had the personality for it too. So back to the book I went. To my total shock I started noticing I was doing less and less to assist him to sleep until I just started trying to put him down awake (sleepy of course and after a good dose of cuddling too) and he would just roll over and go to sleep. I am truly impressed I really didn't think there was ever any possibility that a baby would eventually be able to put himself to sleep without some form of crying it out. Not my little man, we did it!! He is six months, I read this book when he was less then three months old and just started implementing the suggestions prior to any habits forming. I think that is vital, to start this BEFORE you develop any bad sleep habits. Also I am pretty sure had I followed this book with more dedication he would have been putting himself to sleep a lot sooner but hey, I did what was comfortable for me and my family and it worked out all without having to leave him to cry it out in a hysterical fit of sadness and frustration. I am a happy mama!!!

Some good info
Pluses:
*Invaluable explanation of how baby sleep cycles work. Specifically, a baby starts out in a very light form of sleep and is easily awoken. After 20 minutes s/he cycles into a deeper sleep mode and remains that way for about 40 minutes before starting the cycle all over again. What this means for parents: If you're holding or wearing a sleeping baby, you need to wait 20 minutes after s/he falls asleep before placing him/her in a crib - otherwise s/he'll probably wake up.
*An acknowledgment that many "sleep solutions" won't work for babies under 4 months. Honestly, when it comes to sleep in the first insane 3+ months, it's whatever works works. I liked the fact that Pantley listed a number of different activities to try in getting a newborn to sleep. I appreciated not being chided for failing to get my 2 week old asleep by putting him in his crib while still awake (the holy grail of all sleep advice!).
*The safety guidelines for co-sleeping are thorough and excellent.

Minus:
*The writing style is a little...amateurish. The friend who gave me this book said, "You'll discover some useful info in here, but you'll probably find yourself disliking the author." She was right. Pantley is obviously very proud of her parenting skills and as a result, sometimes comes off as rather smug. A lot of the "research" from this book is pasted together from other sources. And on the whole, this book could have benefited from another round of editing (someone needed to tell the author not to share that she's used the bathroom wearing a child!)

Excellent!!
For anyone who is looking for someone to tell them "DO THIS! IT WILL WORK IMMEDIATELY!" This book is not for you!

Pantley reminds you several times in her text that her ideas are gentle and are "designed" to work over time, not overnight. Although she does admit that if you stick with it and are as disciplined in your administration of her ideas as you wish your child to be when it comes to bedtime that you can see results faster. Pantley presents TONS of ideas and helpful hints on how to help your child get a better nights sleep with out traumatizing them or you! She presents her ideas in a well organized easy to read and understand manner. Her sleep logs are very helpful for turning a possibly chaotic problem into an extremely manageable one. This book is for everyone, from the parent looking to help their good sleeper sleep better AAAALL the way to the parent who hasn't had a single good nights sleep since day one. Her section on how babies sleep & their "normal" sleeping pattern was very informative and is key to helping you understand the hows, whens and whys of a child's sleep. This book is a wise purchase!