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APPROACHES TO SLEEP (Babies)

There is no other parenting topic over which so many parents lose sleep! There are many books and methods out there to help you, but you still have to follow the one that speaks to your heart and works for your family. Keep in mind though, that a baby's brain is not developmentally ready before about four months to self soothe to sleep, so have patience and help your baby find ways to ease into slumber on his/her own gradually.

Sleep experts:

Richard Ferber, M.D.: Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems
Richard Ferber, M.D., a pediatrician, directs the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Boston's Children's Hospital. He is probably the most well known sleep expert in the United States — and arguably the most controversial. Dr. Ferber recommends following a warm, loving bedtime routine and then putting your baby in bed awake and leaving your baby (even if he/she cries) for gradually longer periods of time. Putting an infant to bed awake, says Dr. Ferber, is crucial to successfully teaching your baby to soothe themselves to sleep. Dr. Ferber's approach is opposed by those believe a baby should never be left alone to cry, but many parents swear by his methods.

Tracy Hogg: Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
Dubbed the "baby whisperer" because of her ability to communicate with and comfort babies, Hogg, a nurse, worked with parents (including a number of Hollywood celebrities) to help them recognize their baby's signs and signals. Her method says babies need to be comforted when they cry, but cautions against letting your baby depend on "props" such as nursing, patting, and rocking to get to sleep. Her book tells parents how to follow a middle road between the cry-it-out and no-tears sleep training methods.

Harvey Karp, M.D.: The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer
Santa Monica pediatrician, Harvey Karp, M.D., describes the first three months of life as the "fourth trimester" and says many sleep problems can be traced to the difficult transition to life outside the womb. To ease the transition and encourage sleep, he recommends calming your baby by using the "five S's": swaddling, side/stomach position, shhh sounds, swinging, and sucking — all described in detail in his book and designed to mimic the rhythmic motion, noises, and cozy closeness of being in utero. Many parents find his methods most effective for younger babies.

Jodi Mindell, Ph.D.: Sleeping Through the Night: How Infants, Toddlers, and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night's Sleep
Mindell, a child psychologist, is the associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Her book is full of practical advice for getting your child to sleep. And she puts this advice in the context of parenting in general, tackling other tricky issues such as handling behavior problems and managing your own feelings when you're under stress. Like Dr. Ferber, she recommends leaving your child for gradually longer periods of time so your baby will learn to soothe themselves to sleep.

Elizabeth Pantley: The No-Cry Sleep Solution
Like William Sears, M.D., who wrote the forward to this book, parent educator Pantley opposes any sleep method that involves leaving your baby alone to cry, advocating a more gradual approach to sleep training. Her book follows some of the basic Dr. Ferber guidelines, but instructs parents to respond as soon as their baby cries, comfort him/her, and begin the process again. Pantley acknowledges that her "no-cry" approach to sleep is likely to take longer than cry-it-out methods, but she argues that it's more effective in the long run because it follows the baby's timeline, not the adult's.

Marc Weissbluth, M.D.,: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Sleep researcher and pediatrician, Dr. Marc Weissbluth, says the falling-asleep process is something kids learn, and parents can help them develop healthy habits. According to Dr. Weissbluth, it is not natural for all children to be irritable and cranky at the end of the day — instead, it's a sign that they need more sleep. To that end, he suggests earlier bedtimes and more daytime sleep. His book includes detailed advice on how to accomplish this and age-by-age guidelines for your child's sleep.

William, Martha, Robert, and James Sears: The Baby Sleep Book
The Sears' approach to sleep is rooted in "attachment-style parenting," which emphasizes a close bond between parent and child through nursing, carrying your baby in a sling, and sleep-sharing. They advocate a gentle, nurturing approach to bedtime. They oppose the Ferber method and other cry-it-out methods for getting your baby to sleep, arguing that while such techniques may work in the short run, in the long run they can make children more insecure and vulnerable to sleep problems. William Sears, M.D. and his sons are pediatricians; Martha Sears is a nurse.

This list from http://www.babycenter.com/0_baby-sleep-resources_1509204.bc

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