The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems: Sleeping, Feeding, and Behavior--Beyond the Basics Kindle Edition

Much of this book was helpful. I appreciate the Pick up/put down method; it has really worked with my son who is almost 5 months now and falls asleep on his own now after using this method. I started around 3.5 months (I think...I was pretty sleep deprived and desperate) It does take some serious commitment around the clock but is preferable to CIO in my opinion. I also appreciate the EASY method. It has saved my life! However, it is virtually impossible to put a breastfed baby on a feeding schedule because no two days are ever alike. Truly. My son does not nap the same two days in a row either. He generally has a 2 hour wake window but naps are never 2hours, 2 hours and 45min. Ever. ...so I found myself a little frustrated with expectation when I tried transitioning from a 3hr to a 4 hr schedule. My baby just isn’t capable of going 4 hrs between feedings. So I feed around his naps and try not to feed him to sleep. That’s pretty much it. Again, he now puts himself to sleep after a cuddle and a pat on the back. Hooray! But...the general idea of scheduling can be helpful if you’re trying to sort out what baby needs: food? Sleep? Play?Overall, though, what I find is working best for me is to just attune to my baby. Reading books can be really helpful for a first time mom but at the end of the day I have to put all the books away and just trust my intuition as a mom.

UPDATE: As I sit here sipping my morning coffee and my son goes on his 12th hour of sleep, I couldn’t help but think of how far we have come with his sleep- and how big a part this book played in that. I read chapters of this book several times in order to truly understand how babies sleep. Our son was a horrible sleeper- up every 90 minutes throughout the night for weeks and months. Only wanting to nurse to fall back asleep. And the minute I would lay him down, he’d cry for more boob. He was old enough to not need to eat at night, but at this point it was habitual. I was exhausted and thought there was no end in sight. We started using the pick up/put down method around 4 months. Wasn’t easy. It was trying. There were more nights than I can count where I didn’t abide exactly by Tracy’s rules- I held him longer than I should according to the book. And that may be why it took a lot longer to teach him how to fall asleep on his own. But by 6 months, he was falling asleep on his own. By 8 months he was sleeping through the entire night (no nursing), and by 10-12 months he was sleeping 11-12 hours a night. He just turned one years old and is sleeping a solid 12 hours per night.Perhaps the ONLY downside to following Tracy’s method is that he is so accustomed to falling asleep in his crib, we’d have a hard time getting him to fall asleep anywhere else (other than the carseat). Don’t blame him, who would want to fall asleep on bleachers, or strollers, etc. haha. But because the same routine was crucial to picking up good sleep habits, he knows exactly what he needs to do when he is put down for a nap or bedtime- sleep. He hasn’t fussed about being put down for months. I don’t even remember the last time he put up a fight.Let me be clear: during this method, he cried. A lot. But we never let him “cry it out.” We picked him up the moment he cried, and put him down once he stopped. And some nights, that was upwards of 20 times. And some nights, I just gave up and nursed. Then we’d start all over again. It’s normal- she talks about that in her book.When first reading some of the chapters I wasn’t sure this was for us. I thought, he will always just fall asleep while nursing and that’s that. But one particular thing stuck with me so much and it rings so true.She says, “You’re teaching your baby to sleep, and that is the greatest gift of all.”First review:Very insightful info. The book has helped me to better understand some of the ways of our 2 month old son. But putting some of her solutions to practice hasn't been easy. Babies don't live by the book. It's very hard to stick to some of the sleep routines she talks about, although I understand why they would work. We will keep trying.

I gave it 2 stars because I like the idea of implementing a routine, but this is my second baby and again I was proven it is impossible to start a routine before 3 months of age. Both my babies had reflux and I think Ms. Hoggs (rip) mainly dealt with easy babies for the most part. In fact she doesn’t talk about feeding less and more often, which is what is recommended in case of gastrointestinal discomfort. Also, this book is geared towards first time parents or at least moms that can rely on support from their families and friends. If you are on your own, like I am, this book will make you feel like a failure.

Great book that complements Tracy Hogg's "The Baby Whisperer". This book explains some of the questions that may have come up after reading that book (and her other first book). I thought "the baby whisperer" was clear enough, but I find myself picking up more details and information from this book that helps me understand better her process.This book is written as if she's right there with you... the questions she would ask, the advice she would give, if you were in the situation she's describing. I really like and appreciate her method, and I think this book is a great explanatory tool.She also goes more into toddlers and older ages in this book than she did in "the baby whisperer"... it helps to anticipate some of the issues that will come up later and nip them in the bud. I'm a big fan!

I did not want to and could not bring myself to do cry it out but after a year of no sleep I had to do something. I tried the no cry sleep solution at 8 months old but it can take a VERY long time. I did not have the patience for that. Maybe if he was younger it may have been easier. This book really did help me but...It took some time and patience, maybe because my son was over a year when I started it. It’s also probably dependent on the child’s temperament how quickly it works. But it worked! My son has been sleeping through the night for months now.I started this when he was over a year so I only did the put down part of pu/pd. As he was more able to fall asleep without my help I combined it with the chair method/gradual with drawl and that got me out of the room. Overall a very helpful book

First, I want to be clear I totally disagree with the whole 'accidental parenting' narrative as a few other reviewers have mentioned. As a first time parent to a newborn, you do what it takes to make sure they are comfortable and happy - this isn't accidental it's good parenting. Soskip that bit and don't feel bad! That aside, the technique of pick up/ put down and shhh pat does work - though beware with the former it can overstimulate and you are left with a very distressed and awake baby - however this is where shhh pat comes in. Our daughter would not go down from day one, even now at 6 months we are rarely able to put her down drowsy, but shh pat is gradually getting easier and quicker and with help she can fall asleep in her cot. We're not keen on the idea of crying it out - that's just not something my husband and I felt comfortable with (and it isn't advised for babies younger than 6 months anyway), so this is a gentle approach to help her go down in her cot (and previously Moses basket). It took us a while to figure out how to really use it in a way that works for our daughter, but it really is a loud and long shhhh that works for us with a firm pat - starting of quick and slowing as she settles. When I feel her starting to settle I can reduce the volume of the shh, slow and lighten the pat. I honestly couldn't work out what she meant by patting whilst the baby was in the cot - yes we do have to turn her on her side. Once I worked this out it worked really well for us and consistently. If you have a baby that does not like to be put down and wants to nurse (no cry sleep solution book also helped us for this problem as our baby won't take a dummy) or be cuddled all night - this may work (we also invested in a sleepyhead and a Ewan dream sheep). I have literally read all the sleep books on the market and this is perhaps just one of two pieces of advice that has worked for us - the other being how to deal with a baby that would prefer to be latched on to your boob all night (in the no cry sleep solution book). Having said that, if you haven't already figured this out, all babies are different, and what works for my little one won't necessarily work for you. But I have found shhh pat the most effective way to calm her even when she is really hysterical, and eventually get her back to sleep again (assuming clean nappy, burped, not teething, not ill etc.)

I absolutely love this book. Tracy is such a great writer and helps make sense the world of babies, their temperaments and routines. The emphasis is on parenting and mainly how YOU can help your baby in this world through their night-day routines, daytime routines, sleep schedules, breastfeeding/ bottle feeding plans, solids, and then it goes on into toddlerhood.As I first time mom, I wish I had read some of this sooner when I was really struggling with nursing. I have managed to tailor what Ive read and adapt it to my own baby, after all, all babies are different but the groundwork of understanding how to approach them and their routines is embedded in this book.Its a great reference book to read again and again. And Ive even read things in different orders e.g. chapters 1-3, then on to 5 and back to 4 as need be. You wont get bored and you'll certainly learn a lot. What I also would say is, take things as a guide mainly. I have a prem baby so I had to adapt mine a bit - but the book makes it clear to do this too =D

I would probably rate this more realistically as 3.5/4 star. If you are the kind of person who likes order and structure then you will probably like this book as it gives you an easy to follow routine without being a strict timetable. However given that all babies have their own little personalities I'm not sure that all babies can easily fall into this daily routine, especially in the early weeks when your getting to know your baby. ( I think the author would disagree with this though as she talks about babies knowing nothing and having to be taught). For me and my baby I didn't like the idea of cluster feeds and dream feeding at the end of day/night. Whilst I'm sure many babies can settle into this constant waking and feeding pattern, if you have a very windy/reflux/colicky baby I don't see how this can work. I don't think the author takes this into consideration. So while I have tried to adopt some of the principles of the EASY routine, I can't apply it all. Also, as a new parent and reading this when my baby was only 3 weeks old, it made me really doubt myself, fearing I would fall into the trap of 'accidental parenting' as the author calls it. I started really questioning everything from a simple cuddle with my baby to using a dummy....it all gets a bit confusing! Also I'm not sure how the shhh pat technique is any better than cuddling your baby to sleep....surely the baby becomes reliant on the shhh pat to go to sleep....which the author wants you to avoid by rocking/cuddling your baby to sleep?? I'm not quite ready to dismiss this book all together and I'm sure I will dip in and out of it, but I have found the Babycalm book much more useful and reassuring.

I used this to try and get my 3 month old to sleep. I tried the patting and shushing described in the book several times, every time my baby would just cry himself to sleep while I patted him in my arms, it always took more than 45 minutes to settle him in this way and ended up exhausting both of us. I would not recommend using this method to settle. I tried this alongside the 'eat play sleep' routine but he couldn't manage to go 3 hours without a feed and this made him cry even more, it just made us both miserable. The tone of the book is also patronising and the author often addresses the reader as 'luv' or 'duckie' which I personally found irritating

I was having a nightmare with putting my baby down for naps/at bedtime, I'd become reliant on rocking him to sleep but then even that stopped working and he would just cry for 40 mins while I desperately tried everything to get him to sleep and I was at my wits end! I would dread having to put him down for a nap/sleep as it always got him (and me) so upset.Pick up put down was a miracle for me. I used it when my baby was 5 months old - I wish I'd read about it before then!It took 45 mins to get him to sleep the first time and 25 pick ups (but he would usually cry for that long anyway so it was much less stressful than normal as I felt in control at last). Second time took around the same time, third time it took 25 mins (10 mins of crying and 4 pick ups), fourth time 10 mins with 5 pick ups, fifth time 1 min with 0 pick ups. From then on I usually didn't pick the baby up at all, just used hand on chest if he got a little upset.My baby is now 7 months old and is usually really good at going to sleep. I don't pick him up, he normally goes to sleep within 2 - 10 mins of just lying there fairly quietly (obviously you have to put them down at the right time/level of sleepiness and after calming routine e.g. quietly reading a book).I would imagine this technique is probably easier to use when the baby is < 6 months, so you can pick them up to calm them as part of the technique, as after this age you're meant to just pick them up and put down immediately, so it may be harder to soothe them.I adapted the method a bit to what was right for me - e.g. my baby uses a dummy so I don't leave the room as he sometimes throws it away then wants it again, I just sit quietly in the room until he's asleep.The book is not the easiest to read to get the method as the info seems split across different sections of the book, you have to read all the chapter first (for all the age groups) to get all the info, then formulate your plan. Some of the info also seems a bit contradictory - e.g. it says you're meant to leave the room straight away but also says somewhere else stay till they're asleep? (I always do the latter - I think when you first start you're meant to always stay, then once it's established you can leave before they fall asleep?).I didn't want to use CIO and this method worked so well for me. A couple of my friends tried it after me and it worked well for them too.This method also worked for my husband the first time when he tried it, once I'd got it sussed and the baby could go to sleep on his own in the cot (after about 5 goes) - whereas previously I was the only one who could get the baby to sleep.The rest of the book has some interesting info but I bought it primarily for the PUPD method.