The No-Cry Sleep Solution By Elizabeth Pantley
Reviewed By Jon Henshaw M.A.
My wife and I recently had our
first child. The first week with our daughter was great.
She slept a lot, breast fed
well, and we were convinced that we had given birth to
an angel. Getting her to sleep during that first week was
easy.
We would wrap her in a blanket like a burrito, place her
in the bassinet or crib, and she would be out. Unfortunately,
our honeymoon was soon over after that first week.
As she began to experience her new surroundings, and started
to go through tremendous growth spurts, she became increasingly
difficult to comfort. As new parents, we felt lost with the
multitude of advice coming from our friends and family. There
was also the frustration of feeling like we weren't meeting
the needs of our daughter, because of her constant restlessness
and screaming.
Fortunately, Elizabeth Pantley had recently mailed me a
copy of her book, The No-Cry Sleep Solution, to review on
FamilyResource.com. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Elizabeth's book was packed full of useful knowledge and
wisdom to help any parent care for their newborn or older
baby.
In the second chapter of The No-Cry Sleep Solution, Elizabeth
focuses on educating parents on the basic sleep patterns
of babies. Most parents (including us) are quick to believe
that their newborn baby has sleep problems, simply because
they can't seem to get their baby to sleep on a schedule.
In response to this common misperception, Pantley writes:
"Newborn babies do not have sleep problems, but their
parents do. Newborns sleep when they are tired, and wake
when they are ready. If their schedule conflicts with yours,
it's not a problem for them; they don't even know it."
After educating parents about basic sleep facts, she walks
the reader through the process of keeping sleep logs. The
logs are easy to understand, and she provides templates that
parents can use for their own logs. My wife and I weren't
exactly in a place where we wanted to start keeping logs
yet. However, if you have disinterest in the logs like we
did, it shouldn't deter you from getting the book. The chapters
that discuss the logs, also include an innumerable amount
of helpful suggestions for how to teach your baby good sleep
patterns and waking behavior.
The chapter we found most helpful was the one entitled, "Review
and Choose Sleep Solutions." Elizabeth breaks up the
sections into newborns and older babies. The newborn chapter
was a God send for us. Suddenly, much of our daughter's behavior
began to make sense to us. One of the many things she talks
about is day/night confusion. She suggests not having your
baby nap too much during the day, because the infant may
get day and night mixed up, which may be why she's up all
night.
Parents will enjoy the inserts throughout the book called, "Mother-Speak." Mother-Speak
consists of short quotes from real mothers describing their
experience trying to get their baby to cry less, and sleep
better. I felt like Mother-Speak did a good job of connecting
the content with the reader, and I think it helps give the
reader a sense of normalcy and hope regarding their situation.
Finally, probably the most educational chapter in the entire
book is chapter 8, "Analyze Your Success." There
is so much accumulated research and advice in this chapter,
that it could be its own book. This chapter seemed to cover
everything, literally!
The No-Cry Sleep Solution is a must have for parents of
babies (newborn to 2-years-old). If it wasn't for this book,
I'm not sure how our sanity would be right now. Thank you
Elizabeth for writing an incredibly useful and helpful book!
