Thursday, October 15, 2015

Bea Reviews The Happy Sleeper by Heather Turgeon & Julie Wright

Publisher: Tarcher
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 26, 2015 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Many parents feel pressured to “train” babies and young children to sleep but kids don’t need to be trained to sleep, they’re built to sleep. Sleep issues arise when parents (with the best of intentions) over-help or “helicopter parent” at night—overshadowing their baby’s innate biological ability to sleep well. In The Happy Sleeper child sleep experts Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright show parents how to be sensitive and nurturing, but also clear and structured so that babies and young children develop the self-soothing skills they need to

•       Fall asleep independently
•       Sleep through the night
•       Take healthy naps
•       Grow into natural, optimal sleep patterns for day and night

The Happy Sleeper is a research-based guide to helping children do what comes naturally—sleep through the night.

The Happy Sleeper features a foreword by neuropsychiatrist and popular parenting expert Dr. Daniel Siegel, author of Parenting from the Inside Out and the New York Times bestseller Brainstorm.

Bea's Thoughts:

I've had this ARC sitting around for about a year now, oops. My preferred book on children and sleeping is still "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth but this book has lots of good suggestions. It is definitely aimed at families and not school or child care situations though the authors do give a little space to them. So for my purposes, the book had little to offer but I would be willing to suggest it to parents. 

The advice seems sensible based on my own knowledge of infants and young children and it is mostly respectful of both the children and the adults. I say mostly because some of the suggestions don't take into account the reality of families daily lives and realistically could be a hardship to enact. Really, it depends on each family's situation; it's worth reading the book. Their methods are a variation on the Cry It Out method but more respectful.

The authors also discuss, briefly, the benefits of sleep (Weissbluth's book does it better) and how much children need. For that alone, I would recommend the book. Working in child care, I frequently encounter parents who don't understand how much sleep their child needs or how wrong it is to deprive their child of a nap (don't even get me started on the idiotic excuses I hear for why the child shouldn't nap). Turgeon and Wright provide practical information about how to help your child sleep (as well as the less practical that I mentioned). The text is often dry and repetitive but it's worth slogging through if your child is having trouble sleeping.

"The Happy Sleeper" is a good, solid reference book for parents. I'd say it's worth giving their methods a try.

Goof doesn't need help going to sleep; he has it mastered. :D

6 comments:

  1. This sounds interesting and another perspective is always good. The Tornado was a terrible sleeper (still is in some ways) and we really struggled when he was an infant. I'm definitely pro-naps for as long as needed. I never understood why people would want their kids to stop napping. Mine never went to bed earlier or easier if they missed their nap.

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    1. Their advice is for children through age six so it might work with The Tornado. I don't understand parents who want to get rid of naps; besides all the proven benefits of sleep, most children are happier and more cooperative after napping,

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  2. Naps are beneficial for everyone. Sophia and I take a lovely hour to two hour nap every afternoon and she then has a nice evening and goes to bed around 9.Not sleeping through the night yet but goes right back to bed after her needs are met.

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    1. Sounds like she could benefit from the book. It's good you both get naps. :)

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  3. I'm a big proponent of naps - for mama as well as baby!

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