The Natural Baby Sleep Solution: Use Your Child's Internal Sleep Rhythms for Better Nights and Naps Paperback – March 8, 2016

Our first little one is 10 months old, and had yet to sleep through the night. We bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, and I started reading it the day it arrived at our door. We were eager to see if it worked and were desperate to have our little guy sleeping better - we couldn't wait for me to finish the book before trying out the program.So, as much as I hate to admit it, I skipped around in the book a little so I could get the gist of it and start as soon as possible, which was this past Saturday morning as it turned out. We kept track of the timing of everything - what time we put him down, how long he fussed before falling asleep, what time he woke, what time he ate, what time we would lay him back down, etc. - and with only one exception through the weekend, we were able to get him down right on the 90 minute mark after each previous waking. It was really interesting and exciting to see improvement almost immediately, just by putting him down at that interval. On Day 1, he already seemed to be napping longer more soundly. That night was a fairly normal night, and we weren't actually at home so we decided to feed him when he woke to try and minimize disruptions to others in nearby rooms.Sunday also went well in terms of napping. That night, we put him down for bed. Typically, within 3 to 4 hours of bed time he is awake, standing in his crib, crying, and expecting to be fed. However this time, after following Polly's program for only two days, he slept for 6 hours before his first waking. And this time, instead of feeding him like we normally would have, we followed the program and laid him back down as matter-of-factly as possible - no talking, no cuddling, no eye contact - and within minutes he was back asleep, which was totally surprising. After that, he slept for another 3 hours, so when he next woke at that point we followed the same method, and although it took a couple of lay-downs this time, he again fell back asleep until waking for the day 2.5 hours later. This was the first night he went without feeding, so already we were very impressed!The next day was his first day back at daycare since starting the program. We were unsure how it would go at daycare considering the schedule may be harder to follow because of the needs of other kids, commotion and noise of other kids, etc. Fortunately, our provider was very receptive to the program, and the day seemed to go very well. They were able to get him down for naps at the 90 minute intervals, and he seemed to sleep well. When we got him home, we fed him dinner and got him promptly to bed at the 90 minute mark, which was at 6:00 pm. He fell right to sleep! An hour or two later, he awoke with a couple little cries due to our noisy barking dogs. Waking from the dogs would usually result in full waking, standing, crying, and would require us to go in to soothe him and lay him back down, possibly several times...not this time. Within seconds (maybe a minute at most), he was back down on his own and asleep! This was just so out of the ordinary for him, I was completely shocked. And to top it all off, the next time he woke was at 6:30 am!!! And that may only be because I got up to get ready for work.I am completely astounded that after 10 months of difficult nights, on only the third night of this program he slept through!! I am still working my way through the book cover-to-cover so I can learn all the ins and outs of Polly's program, but I have to say I am just so impressed by its effectiveness in such a short time. Such positive results can only be a product of the book's concrete basis on and support by the physiology of humans rather than standard "conventional wisdom." I absolutely recommend this book to anyone with an infant, especially if sleep is problematic. There truly are not enough positive things I can say about this book and the program!Thank you so much Dr. Polly Moore!

Game changer. Totally worth it.Pros: Short, evidence-based, clear, written by age range so I didn't have to read the entire book all at once. We used this religiously for the first 6-7 months of my daughter's life (at home, with nanny, with family), and it really is like magic to watch the cycles happen and then put a baby down for sleep without a ton of fighting. My daughter sleeps a lot and slept very well as a little baby. People might think it seems like too much, but then everyone comments on how happy she is all the time. She started sleeping through the night at 2 months.Cons: The cycles seem to be a little less effective now that we have an 8 month old because the 1.5-3 hour cycles aren't always condusive to feeding/etc. However, we have been trained to really watch for baby's cues now and can usually catch a tired baby (and assume sleep is the solution to a lot of things vs. feeding or overstimulation). This book has less practical tips on sleep training or establishing good "night night see you later" techniques once your baby is too old to be rocked to sleep. I had to go elsewhere for that.My thought - have realistic expectations. You won't read this (or any book - sorry) and have a baby who just sleeps and never fights it. Even well-rested babies cry. I highly recommend you check out the website about Purple Crying if you're feeling frazzled, which is a great, simple explanation/videos of when/why crying happens, when it peaks, and comforts you in understanding it's normal developmentally and it's temporary. It has a silly name, but is science based and was originally designed as part of a campaign to reduce shaken baby syndrome. But I think the point of it is really comforting in helping new parents (especially dads who come home to cranky babies after work) know that the wailing little baby is probably not in pain, doesn't hate you, and really will grow into a happier little cherub in mere weeks and months.With this book I think you will be empowered to start seeing a rhyme and reason to baby's fussy times, knowing when it's good to take a shower, pop out for a coffee, or run an errand since you can kind of predict when baby is happiest and most alert and (most importantly) when they will need another nap. It will also help you be more aware of your child because instead of expecting a newborn to work on a clock, you will be able to make sure they get the best and most sleep possible.