The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night: Foreword by William Sears, M.D.

As a mom of three, including a very high needs infant and then twins, I know sleep deprivation! As a Childbirth Educator and Doula, I have a fairly extensive knowledge of typical infant sleep cycles and behavior. But as any sleep deprived parent can attest, you can be so overwhelmed, exhausted, and desperate for sleep that you are tempted to try anything and need some support and guidance. The two most common suggestions parents are given are to let the baby "cry it out" or to "just deal with it and know this too will eventually pass", neither of which validates the feelings of these desperate parents or gives them practical ideas for trying to meet both their needs and those of their baby, and often, makes them feel worse either because they can't stand to let their baby cry nor feel they can continue to go on being exhausted and sleep deprived, they want and need help NOW.This book is that help. I bought the No-Cry Sleep Solution when my twin son and daughter were about 9 months old. I was exclusively breastfeeding them and attachment parenting them and did not want to stop that parenting style, but was desperate for sleep. Elizabeth's book was informative, easy to read, easy to follow, and most importantly comprehensive. She does not advocate for any one method of helping babies and parents to sleep, but rather gives weary, exhausted, and overwhelmed parents useful information about what reasonable expectations for sleep are, emphasizes safety, and then gives them easy to use tools they can use to identify sleep issues and many techniques they can choose from to try to bring more sleep to everyone, regardless of sleep arrangements or feeding style! I especially like her sleep logs and analysis tools. Within a few weeks of reading her book we were all sleeping better and I was less stressed as I was able to understand the reasons behind the waking and address them without tears for me or my babies! And yes, we are now all sleeping all night!I highly recommend this book if you are looking for ways to gently and lovingly help your baby (and yourself) learn to sleep better!

I just wanted to report that this book changed my life immediately. This is a very practical, sensitive book written by a mom who wanted to find a sleep solution that didn't involve varying degrees and timing of crying. I couldn't bare my baby's crying and was getting up 4-5 times a night for 3.5 months. When it occurred to me that I couldn't go back to work like this, desperate, I read web sites and then this book. In 24 hours (yes, one day!) my baby learned to sleep 5-6 hours and then again 2-4 hours. I am dreaming again and have less back pain too. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK for expecting and new parents (and grandparents nagging at you to let the little ones 'cry it out'). Here are a few highlights: 1. keeping babies up later so they get worn out won't lead to longer sleep... it will mean shorter stints since they get tensed up and can't relax well enough to go deep 2. calm down your home at night (sadly and for a little while at least, no more happy baby time for us with visitors and block meetings, baby brigade, etc.) 3. infant babies need 2-3 at least one hour naps per day (my baby slept periodically 30 minutes whenever) 4. babies need very regular schedules (oops, every day was different at our house as I was playing and erranding alot for this break without being at my office) 5. they need absolute darkness to sleep at night (we nixed the night light and noticed our neighbor's porch light came right into the nursery) 6. they don't necessarily need to feed if they awaken and can be patted to sleep (no wonder my kid's in the 90th percentile for weight) Anyhow, we follow the tricks in the book exactly, all of them but putting a 'lovey' in my bra (good grief), and the method immediately worked for us. Of course it won't work for everyone and all babies are unique. But, if you're going crazy like I was, I recommend it.

A refreshing alternative to the "quick fix" and damaging cry-it-out approaches that have been so popular of late. This is the first book I've read (and believe me, I've read a shelfload in the effort to get some shuteye) that works *with* a baby's natural and necessary tendencies instead of against them. Pantley offers real-life solutions, with real-life feedback from real-life moms. She acknowledges the uniqueness of all babies as well as the patterns that are typical to most, and offers a menu of possible things to try. This is the book for the informed parent who wants to know *why* her baby is having trouble sleeping, wants to know how to help her without damaging the parental/child bond, knows there are no ultra-fast magic methods -- and won't fall for the checkout-lane "get your baby to sleep in five easy (cruel and heart-wrenching) steps." This is important stuff and can't be dealt with in 50 pages...so it's well worth your time to read the parts of the book that are relevant to your situation. Highly recommended...by a (now) well rested family!

OK, I admit it. I bought all of them. Here's how they compare:Ferber: Advocates crying to sleep with parent soothing on a time schedule. Put your baby in the crib. Come back to pat and say soothing words at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. Increase the times every night. Hopefully your baby will stop crying and go to sleep. Lots of scientific discussion about sleep.Weissbluth: Advocates crying to sleep without parent soothing. Open-ended time - no limit. You are "leaving him alone to forget the expectation to be picked up." Has a section on children over 7 years old.Mindell: Advocates crying to sleep with parent soothing, on a schedule similar to Ferber but with more frequent checks on the baby.Pantley: Advocates using gentle techniques to avoid crying. Focus on understanding why baby is waking and fixing problems with routines, new associations, and gradual changes in patterns. Supportive of breastfeeding and co-sleeping as well as crib sleeping and bottle feeding.

FINALLY, a book that makes sense to sleep-deprived people! I always thought there were only three options when it came to sleeping with a baby in the house: 1) You just get lucky and have a natural-born sleeper; 2) You can let them cry it out; or 3) You can just deal with the constant night waking.Thanks to Elizabeth Pantley, I realized there is a gentle, loving way to teach my daughter to sleep without a single tear! After a few nights of following our sleep plan, my daughter started sleeping through the night. This was accomplished without ONE single tear!!!! Unlike in other books, there is no strict format to follow. You can adapt the ideas to fit your child and at your own pace. No more feeling guilty for not just letting her cry it out and being tired all the time. No more guilt about not following the very rigid programs in some other "sleep books."Thanks for all the sweet dreams, Elizabeth!