Description
Sleep—or the lack of it—is one of the most crucial issues for new parents. Newborn babies typically wake every two to three hours, and there’s nothing bleary-eyed, exhausted parents want more than a night of uninterrupted sleep. But while there’s plenty of advice out there, there is nothing that’s based on the latest cutting-edge research about sleep—until now.
In How Babies Sleep, Sofia Axelrod, PhD—neuroscientist, sleep consultant, and mother of two—introduces the first baby sleep method that is truly rooted in the science of sleep. After having her first child, Axelrod realized that the typical baby sleep advice conflicted with the actual science of sleep, inlcuding the findings from her mentor’s Nobel Prize–winning sleep lab. She developed her transformative method based on the latest discoveries about our body’s circadian clock and how it is disturbed by light and other external stimuli. After seeing incredible results with her own babies, she has since counseled countless families in her groundbreaking method—which works with babies’ needs and helps little ones learn to self-soothe, fall asleep more easily, and stay asleep through the night.
You’ll discover helpful tips that work, and learn: why using a red lightbulb (instead of a regular one) in the nursery at night can minimize wakings; why the age-old advice “don’t wake a sleeping baby” isn’t true; how to create a healthy routine; how to sleep train gently with minimal crying (under two minutes); and so much more in this revolutionary and effective book that will help both you and your baby enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep.
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Fatal Tragedy –
I’m a first time mum, and I have birth during the peak of COVID in UK. I’ve not had any dealings with little babies before and was therefore like a fish out of water.
I saw so many things online about how well babies slept and all the different sleep training methods. I co-sleep and contact nap and do not want to do cry it out. But I did want him to sleep better and go down easier and this book has been amazing for that.
The first half of the book explains how sleep works. Not just for babies but in general. This is the most useful thing for me – understanding how the body and sleep work has meant that I can work with the information to take the approach I want. It is a fantastic book for this reason in my opinion.
Too much sleep training is based in “training” and not working with the science of sleep.
I haven’t followed the advice on gentle sleep training to the letter because it doesn’t work with what I personally want to do in other areas (breastfeeding and co-sleeping). However, the bits I have taken from it mean I have a baby who goes down easier for naps and bedtime.
I am completely convinced by the science of it and if I were to follow the training to the letter I’m sure it would work to get no night wakes. I’m personally not there yet. I have a very small baby and his night feeds are very important to me so I don’t want to eliminate them yet. But when I get to that point I feel confident that I understand how it works and can work towards better sleep.
Jill –
This is the ONLY book I read to prep myself for being a parent. I’m so glad I did. We implemented the things mentioned in this book from the day we brought our son home and he sleeps so well at night. We recommend this book to anyone who struggles with their baby’s sleep
Shannon Carver –
Love this book, very helpful.
Luis A. –
Letters on kindle are all mix up.
T. H. R. Gamon –
The book is fine, but the kindle edition is unreadable. I am not sure why they even sell one.
Amazon-Kunde –
das Buch hat dazu beigetragen, den Nachtschlaf des Kindes zu normalisieren
N. Szefler –
The first part of the book is great. It tells about some of the science of sleep, i.e. what influences the circadian clock and how that affects our sleep, and what can be done to adjust it (lots of bright light during the day; nothing but red light at night).
I also appreciated the tip regarding making nap time different from bed time, to encourage the baby to sleep shorter in the day and longer at night.
There are two issues with the book, however:
1. It completely ignores major research regarding “breastfeeding science”, i.e. WHY babies wake up often and how it protects them from SIDS; not to mention the fact that scheduled feeding is the *exact opposite* of the recommendations regarding breastfeeding babies, which are to feed “on demand”, as often and as much as the baby wants. Look it up – the effects are amazing when compared with “schedule fed” nursing babies.
2. There’s nothing “gentle” about the sleep training she advises. It’s a simple wait 90+ seconds before going in, don’t pick the baby up, don’t soothe baby for longer than 2 minutes, leave again. This whole time your baby will be crying (or screaming), of course, so good luck with that. Her solution? “Make your partner do it”. Seriously? Are dads supposed to be cold-hearted or is she implying women are too “soft” to handle their babies crying? Guess what, there’s a biological reason it’s hard for parents to hear their babies cry and not go in to help them. R aren’t designed to ignore them. Regardless of our gender or parental role.
This part is full of the expected “it’s hard to hear them cry but it works” crap. And there’s no science backing this part up (because the science has actually proven cry-it-out sleep training carries psychological and physiological negative effects for the baby, in both the short and long term!).
This reads like another case of a scientist picking and choosing the research that shows what she wants it to. I suggest you look at the actual research papers on biological baby sleep, breastfeeding, responsive parenting, etc so you can make a truly informed decision about how to handle your child’s sleep.
And go ahead and skip this book, you can find this info elsewhere and without the cry-it-out bologna she advises.
Amazon Customer –
This book (and the accompanying app) was really helpful for creating a schedule, as well as setting up an environment for good sleep.
penguinboy –
I don’t know if there’s anything particularly novel about this book. I didn’t read any other sleep books before this one. But the advice offered here really works. Our kiddo was sleep trained by 4 months, thanks to the advice we read here. I hear about parents who still haven’t sleep trained a full year into their kid’s life, and I feel so bad for all of them. It’s intimidating to sleep train, but avoiding it is self-inflicted punishment on both you and your kiddo.
The book makes one key point, which some people will undoutedly disagree with. Yes, all kids are different … but they aren’t THAT different. Kids all need a similar amount of sleep, give or take a few hours. Kids all will sleep better at night if they have slept less during the day. Kids don’t need night feedings to survive once their stomachs are large enough.
Neuro-typical baby brains all work basically the same, which means that the sleep training process doesn’t have to be as uncertain as it sounds. You can trust that if you follow this program whole-heartedly, eventually you will see results.
The main themes of the book are:
1. Create an optimal sleep environment. Only use a red light after bedtime, if needed. Light is so important for sleep. Use white noise. Don’t co-sleep if you can possibly avoid it. Essentially, set yourself up for success.
2. Create a routine. Baths are great, stories are good too, even if they don’t understand the words. Make the routine super consistent so that when there is inevitably deviation, they can get back on track fast.
3. Let them cry. This is the hard part for many parents. The “gentle” part of the plan here is to not cut the baby off cold turkey, but to go into the room and do some minimal in-crib soothing, then only go in at increasing intervals after. I think this was a good compromise between “exctinction” and no sleep training at all.
There’s just no getting around it, though: your baby is going to miss you at night, and they are going to cry. The good news is, they will get over it, and maybe faster than you realize. The lesson I’ve had to learn over and over is that kids will surprise you with what they are capable of, and how fast they can change for the better.
I strongly believe that sleep training is the right thing for most families. You are loving your baby by helping them to learn how to take care of themselves in the most basic way. You are loving yourself by reclaming your own sleep, which will directly help you to be a more patient, loving parent, not to mention regaining your sanity.
I can’t stress enough you have to be consistent. By night three or four, you probably won’t see much of any improvement, and your resolve may waver. It’s so hard to think clearly at night, when you’re exhausted, and every evolutionary instinct tells you, “if I just go in for a few minutes, he’ll calm down, and we’ll all get some rest.” Keep your eyes on the prize; the rewards are worth the initial pain!
The book also features a lot of interesting science about sleep, backed up by citations. There are several example sleep schedules, and a very helpful chart that tells you the average amount of sleep your baby needs at different ages.
I don’t know if there are better books on infant sleep, but How Babies Sleep is a great one. It’s not too long, and has and approachable writing style. What have you got to lose?
Jonathon –
With our first we did a blend of different sleep practices to come up with what worked for us. Now with our second we had such a hard time. This book was so helpful and giving you a step by step guide on how to fix your baby’s sleep as well as your own.
Corina G –
I really enjoyed reading this book. I wanted to start sleep training my almost 4 month old but didn’t really like the other options I saw. Within three days my baby was sleeping better!
Karrie Estelle –
This book saved my sanity! I cannot thank this writer enough. My baby was the worst sleeper! He would only fall asleep in my arms and was awake every 2-3 hours and woke up early every day. The sleep deprivation was making me miserable at a time when I really wanted to be happy and enjoying my precious baby. Someone on a Facebook group recommended this book and it changed my life. The changes it suggested made an immediate difference. Within 3 days I was able to put my baby down awake and he put himself to sleep. It changed the way I handled his daytime schedule and he became a much happier baby. My husband and I each have copies. I got one for my sitter so she would understand our routine and we could all be on the same page. I got one for my pregnant best friend. If I could only have one book about motherhood- this would be it. The changes were not hard to make and they are backed by science, which I love as a nurse. if you are a tired sleep deprived mama like I was, get this book. It’s truly a life saver