Which Baby Sleep Book Should I Read?

****I am not a doctor or child sleep expert. These are my opinions about some baby sleep books I read. Every baby and family is different. Each may choose their own methods of parenting. I offer this post for informational purposes only.

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When I found out I was expecting Miss JJ I was more worried about having all the essentials than worrying about what kind of sleep methods I would use. If you are trying to conceive or are expecting your first try to get an idea of what you would like now, but if not no worries. I didn’t think about sleep, I just figured she would sleep and it would be peachy, but it wasn’t. I didn’t help much either. I just nursed and nursed her to sleep because it was easy. While I was nursing her to sleep I started reading sleep books on my Kindle.

The hard thing about sleep books is unless you have a real open mind there are some ideas you may be open to or opposed to without even reading the books. The big one is Cry It Out (CIO). There are tons of books out there that are different versions of CIO. I originally was opposed to it. I would be upset that I spent the time and money on something I wasn’t willing to try at the time.

Miss JJ’s one year check up came around and I was still nursing her to sleep in the night a lot. The doctor told me that she really needed to be weaned at night and that she was doing great on her growth so there was no need. She needed to learn to sleep on her own. That is when I tried this first approach which I would say is a CIO method, which I wouldn’t have been open to before this time, but I liked it the best out of all the CIO approaches I read.

Which baby sleep book should I read?

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The Sleep Sense Program by Dana Obleman

This book is what helped us get to Miss JJ to sleep through the night on her own without nursing to sleep. It may have been a combination of things, but I needed to night wean her and get her sleeping in her own crib all night long. It is a cry it out method, but it explains a lot about why babies need sleep and what the crying means. It also gave ideas for troubleshooting during teething, early waking, etc.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley

I tried and tried to use these ideas. Some seemed to work, but you have to be so consistent and let’s be honest I wasn’t. I was TIRED. So I resorted back to my nursing to sleep because it was so much easier. Let me also say there is not really a no-cry sleep method. There will be some tears. You can minimize them and this is the book to help, but it is a process and takes effort.

The Sleep Lady’s Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West

This could possibly be considered a step between CIO and the No-Cry. But, I’d say it leans a little more to CIO. The Sleep Lady introduces her shuffle. Where you sit as a comforting presence while your child falls to sleep. Moving a little further from your child’s crib as the nights progress. This works for some, but not for me. If I was in the room Miss JJ would not settle down.

Sleep: Top Tips from The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg and Melinda Blau

Another gentler approach in this book is the pick up/put down method. You basically pick up the baby when they cry, then put them back down when they are calm. Again each baby is different, but this didn’t work out for me. My back was killing me after a couple tries. This is definitely a way to not leave a baby to cry it out, but it will still have tears.

The Baby Sleep Book by The Sears

The Sears are advocates of co-sleeping. If you are up for that it works for some, doesn’t for others. If you want to do it, be sure to practice safe co-sleeping. This is a very gentle sleep method, it might work for a time, but one of the other books will eventually be needed to help move to a crib or bed at one point.