Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition
by Richard Ferber

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $9.10
You Save: $6.85 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.98 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Richard Ferber
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-05-23
ISBN: 0743201639
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Fireside
Accessories:

Book Reviews of Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition

Book Review: Helped my 3.5 month old sleep 11-12 hours a night
Summary: 5 Stars

Ferber says "It's entirely reasonable to cut back to two nighttime feedings by the time your child is two or three months of age, one feeding by three or four months, and none at all at five months. Many children give up nighttime feedings altogether around the age of three or four months;basically no normal, healthy full-term babies still require a nighttime feeding when they are five months old, and you can certainly insist on stopping them altogether at that point if you want to."

Sounds too good to be true? That's exactly what my son did.

From talking to my friends, it sounds like I won the lottery on the sleep friend since my 3.5 month old son has started sleeping 11-12 hours straight a night. He just started a week ago and he's not completely consistent about this yet, so there are some nights he still wakes up to be fed, but I can happily live with that. I think part of it is genetic & part of it is luck, but I also attribute it to the fact that I obsessed over having him develop healthy sleep habits early on so I could avoid having to "sleep train" or break bad habits later on. Some of things I did as soon as he turned 2 months old:

- Moved him to his crib in the nursery (before that he was sleeping with me in bed)
- Did not wake him for feeding during the day (if he slept through a meal, I would just time shift subsequent feedings)
- Avoided rocking him to sleep
- Put him down while he was drowsy but still slightly awake
- Separated the time between his last feeding for the day and bed time (so he didn't need to rely on food to fall asleep)
- Made sure all his naps and bedtime were in the crib
- If he fell asleep in a swing, I would turn off the motion so the swing would be still

Basically, I tried very hard to teach my son how to fall asleep by himself while respecting his demands and need for sleep (i.e., watching for his sleepy cues and letting him sleep for as long as he needed, even during the day).

The two books I swear by that gave me the necessary methodology are "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth and "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber. There was some overlap between the two, but I gleaned enough different information from them that I recommend getting both.

Parents often think that to get their kids to sleep longer at night, they
should be kept awake for as long as possible during the day so that they become exhausted in the evenings and snooze better. WRONG! Kids actually become "overtired" and can't sleep. Instead, they should sleep as much as they need to during the day and be put to bed earlier -- completely counter intuitive. I used Weissbluth (I know this is a review for Ferber but bear with me) to make sure I paid attention to when my son showed signs of being sleepy and put him down for napping right away. Weissbluth also gives some very helpful descriptions on what to expect (and what to do) when a baby is 0-2 months old, 2-3 months old, etc.

Ferber is attributed (and in a bad way) for the "cry it out" method, but I think it's because people misinterpret his recommendations. I think he is misunderstood and his methodology isn't as traumatic as people make it out to be. Having said that, I never actually had to sleep train my child or "Ferberize" him. Ferber doesn't recommend this for children until they are four months old, and I wasn't going to even try until he was five months old, but I was able to avoid this altogether.

Oh, and try to read these books BEFORE you baby is born! These books are not light reading and I made the mistake of tackling them after my darling was born which is tough to do when I had so little "free" time and was horribly sleep deprived. But the effort paid off in spades.

Summary of Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition

Does your child

  • Have difficulty falling asleep?
  • Wake in the middle of the night?
  • Suffer sleep terrors, sleepwalking, or nighttime fears?
  • Have difficulty waking for school or staying awake in class?
  • Snore, wet the bed, or head bang?

In the first major revision of his bestselling, groundbreaking classic since it was published twenty years ago, Dr. Richard Ferber, the nation's foremost authority on children's sleep problems, delivers safe, sound ideas for helping your child fall and stay asleep at night and perform well during the day.

Incorporating new research, Dr. Ferber provides important basic information that all parents should know regarding the nature of sleep and the development of normal sleep and body rhythms throughout childhood. He discusses the causes of most sleep problems from birth to adolescence and recommends an array of proven solutions for each so that parents can choose the strategy that works best for them. Topics covered in detail include:

  • Bedtime difficulties and nighttime wakings
  • Effective strategies for naps
  • Sleep schedule abnormalities
  • A balanced look at co-sleeping
  • New insights into the nature of sleep terrors and sleepwalking
  • Problems in setting limits
  • Sleep apnea, narcolepsy, bed-wetting, and head banging

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems offers priceless advice and concrete help for a whole new generation of anxious, frustrated, and overtired parents.


When your child isn't sleeping, chances are that you aren't either. Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems--a tired parent's essential for more than 10 years--offers valuable advice and concrete help when lullabies aren't enough to lull your child into dreamland. Based on Ferber's research as the director of Boston's Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital, the book is a practical, easy-to-understand guide to common sleeping problems for children ages one to six. Detailed case histories on night waking, difficulty sleeping, and more serious disorders such as sleep apnea and sleepwalking help illustrate a wide variety of problems and their solutions. New parents will benefit from Ferber's proactive advice on developing good sleeping patterns and daily schedules to ensure that sleeping problems don't develop in the first place. You'll also find a bibliography of children's books on bedtime, sleep, and dreaming, as well as a list of helpful organizations. Here's a book that is sure to put you and your whole family to sleep--in this case, that's a good thing.

Child Care Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Critical Materials for Parents (And something for the kid)
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature ImageThe Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
by Steven Pinker
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-08-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child ImageRaising An Emotionally Intelligent Child
by John Gottman, Joan Declaire
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1998-08-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $14.00
Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition ImageSolve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition
by Richard Ferber
Fireside; Published: 2006-05-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.76
Price in other shops: $15.95
Staying Connected to Your Teenager: How to Keep Them Talking to You and How to Hear What They're Really Saying ImageStaying Connected to Your Teenager: How to Keep Them Talking to You and How to Hear What They're Really Saying
by Michael Riera
Da Capo Press; Published: 2003-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops: $16.00
Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether, Brown/ White ImageVulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether, Brown/ White
Vulli; Vulli; Release date: 2008-11-18; Baby Product
Best price: $17.50
Price in other shops: $19.99
The Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD) ImageThe Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD)
New Wave Enviro; Release date: 2003-03-18; DVD
Best price: $13.49
Price in other shops: $26.95
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk ImageHow to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
by Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish
Collins Living; Published: 1999-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.07
Price in other shops: $15.95
Your Child's Self Esteem ImageYour Child's Self Esteem
by Dorothy Briggs
Main Street Books; Published: 1975-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.50
Price in other shops: $13.95
Similar Books and other products
What to Expect the First Year ImageWhat to Expect the First Year
by Heidi Murkoff
Workman Publishing Company; Published: 2003-10-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.43
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition) ImageThe Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)
by William Sears, Martha Sears, Robert Sears, James Sears
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2003-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.59
Price in other shops: $21.99
On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .) ImageOn Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .)
by Gary Ezzo, Robert Bucknam
Parent-Wise Solutions, Inc.; Published: 2006-09-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.40
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD) ImageThe Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD)
New Wave Enviro; Release date: 2003-03-18; DVD
Best price: $13.43
Price in other shops: $26.95
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby ImageSecrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby
by Tracy Hogg, Melinda Blau
Ballantine Books; Published: 2005-07-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.43
Price in other shops: $7.99
Super Baby Food ImageSuper Baby Food
by Ruth Yaron
F. J. Roberts Publishing Company; Published: 1998-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.94
Price in other shops: $19.95
Baby 411, Third Edition: Clear Answers & Smart Advice for Your Baby's First Year (Baby 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Baby's First Year) ImageBaby 411, Third Edition: Clear Answers & Smart Advice for Your Baby's First Year (Baby 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Baby's First Year)
by Denise Fields, Ari Brown
Windsor Peak Press; Published: 2007-09-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops: $12.95
The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer ImageThe Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer
by Harvey Karp
Bantam; Published: 2003-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $15.00
The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night ImageThe No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
by Elizabeth Pantley, William Sears
The McGraw-Hill Companies; McGraw-Hill; Published: 2002-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.73
Price in other shops: $15.95
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child ImageHealthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
by Marc Weissbluth
Ballantine Books; Published: 2003-04-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.50
Price in other shops: $16.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories