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Book Reviews of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep
Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child A StepbyStep Program for a Good Night's Sleep
Author: Marc Weissbluth
ISBN-13: 9780449004029
ISBN-10: 0449004023
Publication Date: 4/12/1999
Pages: 345
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 166

3.8 stars, based on 166 ratings
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

42 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
Helpful Score: 8
This book dramatically influenced my understanding of childhood crankies. It also changed my view of naps and bedtimes. I can honestly say that when the naps ceased, it was a natural process that I understood because of reading this book.
Did I implement everything? NO! Did it help us move more gracefully through childhood? Absolutely!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 112 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Interesting sleep studies.... poor answers to solving the problems. Letting a child cry does nothing but teach them the opposite of what you strive to achieve during the day- that they can't trust their parents. Dr William Sears' Nighttime Parenting or Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleap Solution is a better option
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
A bit harsh for my taste.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
It's the author's way or you're wrong. Not much leeway.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book is great if you decide to do the Cry It Out method. I ear-marked a ton of pages. It is so encouraging! When you felt like I was about to go into my crying baby after 10 minutes, I just opened up the book and found one of many passages that said STOP! You are doing what is best for your baby. Sleep is so important and when you have a stubborn baby, it makes it so hard to do the no-cry methods. Like I said, if you don't believe in cry it out, this book isn't for you. If you do, this is the best of the Cry it out books. I won't be swapping this one for awhile. It will be in my library until my little man is over a year old.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Although some parents may find the methods hard to swallow, I do believe they work. The book also includes lots of helpful information about the sleep habits of infants.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
Helpful Score: 1
The author strongly believes in cry-it-out after a few months of age. We do not believe in CIO but leaving that portion aside, there are still many valuable things I was able to learn from the book.
flashbeagle avatar reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Weissbluth's approach is calloused and barbaric. I read this, every word. I couldn't believe some of the things Weissbluth was suggesting. At one point, he advocated leaving a baby alone after he had vomited: Don't clean him up, just leave him be. Basically he said leave your child alone to scream as long as it takes. It makes me sick just thinking about it.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
Helpful Score: 1
This book has very helpful information about the body's sleep cycles and how to work with them to get good sleep at all stages of development. I read it when my child was between three and four months old and it was invaluable in helping me get her on a good sleep schedule, and I plan to keep using it as she grows, as the book has advice for infants through adolescence.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is an AWESOME book on getting your baby to sleep through the night.. it also discusses sleep patterns of toddlers, older children, teens, etc... I wish I'd had it for my first child! But the suggestions it had for addressing children's sleep problems were wonderful and worked!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I agreed with much of what the author discussed. Critique of several sleep theories is included and the overall technique recommended makes complete sense.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
Very helpful - I wish I had read this book before my babies were born rather than months into it!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 5 more book reviews
The theories on sleep in this book make a lot of logical sence. I've read it and am currently implementing the napping strategies (in combination with Babywise techniques) with my three-month-old daughter. Hopefully we are on the way to developing a regular nap schedule for her which will bring me some sanity and her some much-needed sleep! It is difficult to let your baby cry during naptime when they refuse to sleep, but for me, the alternative was an extremely cranky baby by evening. She would cry so hard after a napless day that I could hardly console her. She would eventually exhaust herself crying in my arms and fall asleep. What a nightmare! I'd rather endure the torture of letting her cry a few minutes in her crib with each nap than for an hour every evening while doing everything under the sun to console her to no avail. Those who say you should never let your baby cry must have had children who napped well on their own. For the rest of us whose babies would rather play than sleep and do not nap without guidance, the strategies in this book will serve you well.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
The best book on babies and sleep! Dr. Weissbluth actually explains the physiology and biology behind sleep and why it is so important. He describes sleep in terms of food -- you want to make sure your child is getting enough at the times they are "hungry" for it, and aren't getting unhealthy "junk sleep."
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
Great information on baby sleep but a little intense.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
I have read MANY sleep-help books for babies, and this is by far the best one out there! Dr. Weissbluth is very knowledgeable, and gives PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS, not just theories. Every parent from co-sleepers to believers in crying-it-out will find helpful suggestions in this book. I have given copies to all of my friends!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 3 more book reviews
This book has helped our family tremendously, as well as the families of several friends. Dr. Weissbluth explains the SCIENCE of sleep from birth through the teenage years, and helps you understand what is going on with your child. We are always getting compliments on how sweet our 2.5 year old daughter is. We know that a big reason for that is that she gets enough sleep! She was even sleeping through the night (10-12 hrs. straight) at 2.5 months (though I am not saying that that will happen for everyone). I think that without this book, we would have a constantly overtired child and not even realize it. Some behavior problems can be fixed just with adequate sleep!
Though Dr. W gives you several options, he is clear that letting your child cry themselves to sleep (when necessary) is the easiest and most effective way to help them sleep better. Listen to him. It really works, for babies of many different temperaments (as evidenced by my many friends' kids).
He also gives you strategies for dealing with babies right from birth, even though they are not ready to cry it out until later on. I have been recommending this book to every first-time mom I know (and some moms of 2 or 3!)
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 3 more book reviews
My sister-in-law recommended this book to me to train my child to sleep through the night. She swears by it, but I didn't have as much success as she did. It does have valuable information, just didn't work for us.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 16 more book reviews
This Book Changed My Life!! Came highly recommended to me by a coworker/nurse/friend, and I now HIGHLY recommend it. My child was sleeping through the night within a week! Read the entire book, or go directly to the section that meets one's needs. Awesome! Can't Recommend Enough.
srfbluemama avatar reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 80 more book reviews
The information in this book makes a lot of sense, and worked well for us. He doesn't claim that one method is the only way to go, but that certain children will respond better to different methods. It's worth a read if you feel like you need some help in the baby-sleep arena.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 3 more book reviews
This book is hands-down the best book on helping your child to sleep. I have used it for different stages of my children's sleep through four children and have loaned it out to my friends as well. One of my friends had twins , and now has four children and so I've given her my copy and got an updated copy for myself!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 4 more book reviews
This book really opened my eyes to what my child needed in terms of sleep and how to help him achieve it.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
I appreciate the layout of the book. It's easy to pick up when you have a sleep issue and look for the applicable solution. My 19 month old didn't do so well with the most recent time change and started sleeping in until 10 am and skipping naps and not wanting to go to sleep at night. After a couple of days, he started turning into a little monster. So I found the appropriate section in the book and followed the advice. He was back on track in a day and back to normal in just a few days.

I also enjoyed reading the scientific, yet understandable, breakdown of the sleep cycle. There are also parent-written anecdotes and summary boxes that make it an easy read.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 5 more book reviews
Very helpful book. Now my grandson sleeps through the night.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
I gave this book two stars instead of one because I have some friends who swear by it but I feel it's poorly written and only addresses one potential sleep problem, namely if your child is under-rested. Though it is full of interesting studies and data and though his method certainly is unique and helpful for some children, I found it extremely disorganized and felt the book contained contradictory advice (e.g. Put your kid to sleep earlier vs. Put your kid to sleep later). After four months of torturing my poor baby (who was not under-rested, as it turns out) by desperately clinging to this method without success, I finally threw in the towel and switched to Ferber (which, incidentally, very clearly describes the symptoms & treatments for many sleep disorders and is, in my opinion, significantly more humane of a method). Weisbluth's method caused my baby's schedule to drift so that one day he'd wake for the day at 4 am and the next at 8 am, he had many night wakings, he spent a ton of time crying, and I felt horrible guilt about the whole experience. With Ferber, his schedule is regular, he sleeps through the night, and can put himself to sleep with no crying. Don't believe claims that this is the "best" out there. It works for some babies but not all.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 8 more book reviews
This book is wonderful! My twin boys were still not sleeping through the night at 13 months old. I finally read this book and within 3 nights, they were both sleeping through the night. Wish I had read it sooner!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
Changed my life!!! I took the advice from this book, implemented it and my daughter went from waking up every 3 hours to sleeping 10-12 per night. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
Excellent book! I referred to this book over and over again, during my babies early years.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 2 more book reviews
A terrific book for any sleep deprived parent who wants to get baby sleeping but doesn't have the heart to hear them scream.
deanna17240 avatar reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
This was my bible when my child was a baby. Gives advice on healthy sleep habits for children from infants through school age. Great resource! I went back to it over and over again!!!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 22 more book reviews
EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ALL NEW PARENTS AND PARENTS OF NEW BABIES!!! I highly recommend this book over any other baby book about getting your baby to sleep! What I love about this book is it is a guided tour through childhood sleep habits. There are specific sections raning from newborns to teenagers. The key point is getting your baby/child to bed earlier so he/she can sleep later and therefore receive more restorative sleep. I only wish I had found this book when I brought my baby home from the hospital!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 3 more book reviews
Fine enough sleep training book. Just realize that all children don't respond to one method, this may not be the way for you. It was very hyped when I had my daughter and so I bought it to read and found some good information, but did not apply everything in the book.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 4 more book reviews
Awesome for the parents of young babies and children. The methods in this book not only make sense, but they work so well.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 35 more book reviews
This is a book written by a pediatrician and father of four. The book has ideas and help to getting good, healthy sleep for children.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
The main focus of this book seems to be not letting the child get overly tired. The concepts are good, but I found his writing to be a little disjointed and hard to follow. However, one of my friends swears by it and her kids are the best sleepers I know.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 29 more book reviews
Good tips for good nights.
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 19 more book reviews
Great info if you have a baby who isn't a sleeper!!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on
A *must* read for every pregnant mom or expectant dad! Read this book BEFORE your child arrives, or you will be too sleep-deprived to comprehend it.
FitMommyOf2 avatar reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 85 more book reviews
The best book out there if you need help getting your baby on a schedule without having to use the 'Cry-it-out' method! It worked wonders for us and now our baby sleeps 12-13hrs through!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 41 more book reviews
Great tips to help both you and baby get good night sleep! There's alot of useful information in this book
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 77 more book reviews
They say you can take a perfectly healthy college-aged adult and deprive them of sleep...., and they can become psychotic. This goes to show that a parent needs their sleep as much as the child. Thsi book will walk you through teaching your little one to sleep, allowing for not only a more healthy child, but a more mentally healthy mommy or daddy!
reviewed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep on + 21 more book reviews
Some interesting ideas, but I recommend the Babywise books or Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for a gentler, less "preachy" approach.