Helping Your Baby to Sleep

by Anni Gethin, Beth Macgregor

Helping Your Baby to Sleep (Anni Gethin and Beth Macgregor) is a completely revised, updated and expanded edition of this Australian baby sleep classic. It now contains extended advice, especially on common sleeping problems, a whole new chapter on toddler sleep and strengthened practical guides. Helping Your Baby to Sleep offers parents ways of creating better sleep conditionsfor their babies that won't endanger their mental health and allows them to feel loved and safe. Babies thrive when parents are sensitive to their needs at all times, including during the night. Examining the science of baby sleep reveals that babies wake up and need help to settle for many reasons, as frustrating as this may be to parents. the authors offer a strengthened rebuttal against two recent Australian studies promoting sleep training and controlled crying. they point out that the research was poorly designed and roundly criticised by academics across the world. there is no evidence of controlled crying's safety and plenty of evidence about the risks associated with this technique, so it simply shouldn't be advised to parents any more. Many parents find that their confidence is deeply undermined by all of the poor advice they receive about what they should expect; about how their baby is sleeping and how they should be parenting. this book helps restore their confidence and gives them peace of mind. In fact, Beth Macgregor recently received an email from a mum, whose baby was waking every two hours, who said: '[Your book] really has helped me rethink my issues with sleep and my relationship with my baby. I now feel much more in tune with my baby's needs and so much more in love.'

Genres: Parenting

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 27, 2011

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt this book was alot about the theories behind attachment and why they work. It uses examples from around the world and pass histories to justify their findings. I felt like the small novel could be summed up in the following: "If your baby cries, pick them up", "Carry them if they cry when put down" etc. Eventually babies will grow independence and wont need you.

[Tatterededges · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is useless. It provides nothing in the way of techniques to help the baby to sleep and is essentially 177 pages of negativity and smug criticism. The authors are of the opinion that all babies have disrupted sleep most of the time and that if a baby isn't sleeping it's just a phase the parents should roll with.

The authors do nothing but criticise the cry it out method for the first 5 chapters using personal accounts from mothers who've used it and various bits of research to back up their stance that cry it out is traumatic. They even go so far as to argue that it could cause dissociation. I found myself getting frustrated and annoyed by the tone of the book and the fact that the authors just can't seem to move past their own hate. It's fair enough to dislike the method but to devote 5 of the books 7 chapters to trashing it is overkill.

Finally we arrive at chapter 6 "Gentle practical advice for helping your baby sleep" which I'd hoped would provide some actual advice on how to help the baby to sleep but I was again disappointed. The authors give their opinion on some of the popular ideas floating around like introducing solids, not making eye contact and sleep training etc in which they are pretty critical of people who both use and recommend these techniques. Then they suggest that parents have a bit of a think about what the problem might be without actually providing any suggestions. They say in a one page section that there are many gentle ways to help your baby to sleep but don't actually say what they are!

Then comes the final chapter in which they tell the reader to relax and get some support.

I suggest the authors should probably have started a blog and left the book writing to someone who actually has something to contribute.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping to get lots of tips & support. Instead the book seems to be an extremely detailed argument against controlled crying. As I already agreed with this notion, I found it extremely frustrating that every page was filled with the same argument said in different words.

There was. Dry little in techniques that work, and what there was got lost within the constant arguing against controlled crying.

If you want to convince someone controlled crying maybe isn't the best way, then this book could work. Otherwise I wouldn't recommend.

[Bel Inda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book - loved it!!! Provided lots of evidence as to why the popular cry it out methods don't work - especially in the long term. Lots of good advice and suggestions - I recommend this book to everyone.

[Riverina Regional Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Members of Riverina Regional Library reserve your copy now