Within two days, our baby was able to fall asleep all on his own, and after several more nights of dream feeds aimed at weaning him off of night feedings, he miraculously slept a full night’s sleep. I’ve physically loaned my copy out to at least five friends (always careful to get it back!) and recommended it to many more.
Why do I like The Sleep Easy Solution book so much?
- The book begins by stating that life doesn’t have to be this way. As much as I tried to avoid having my baby cry at all, I also needed the reassurance that continuing to be sleep-deprived did nothing for me or my family. When I spoke to friends whose two- or three-year-olds continued to need their parents to fall asleep or hadn’t slept a full night, I knew I didn’t want to go down that path. And it’s true: this moment was a turning point; I felt happier about being a parent.
- Rather than vague instructions, the book outlines very specific steps for an easy to follow sleep plan. When I read other sleep books, I found little focus and instead needed clear-cut steps on how to help my child fall asleep, from whether it’s even a good time to start, to how to prepare his room for optimal sleeping, to the seconds and minutes it takes to hold your ground.
- While the authors emphasized the crucial need for consistency, they also remained sensitive to the emotional roller coaster of hearing your baby cry. I was about ready to try anything at this point, but that didn’t mean hearing your baby cry was any more pleasant.
- The book covers more than just sleep training an infant. For instance, it came in handy when we helped our son transition from a crib to a toddler bed. Other topics include helping older, verbal children sleep on their own, how to tackle travel plans and even tips on twins and multiples.
With my twins coming any week now, I plan to do things a bit differently so that they can hopefully learn to fall asleep on their own without any sleep training. But if for whatever reason either of the babies struggle with attaining a full night’s sleep, I know I have a book to help us along.
The giveaway: Get a free copy for yourself!
I don’t normally do giveaways; in fact this is the first one I’m holding. And while I’ve been approached to give away other products and reviews, I’ve turned them all down for the simple reason that I don’t know enough about the product or love them enough to recommend them to you.
But this giveaway is a bit different; it was actually me that approached the authors about hosting a giveaway. I figured I’ve recommended this book so many times to my friends that I ought to extend a giveaway to you as well. And so, Jill and Jennifer have partnered with Sleeping Should Be Easy to offer one reader a free copy.
How to enter
There are two ways to win a copy of the book:
- Simply leave a comment on this post.
- For an additional entry, subscribe to Sleeping Should Be Easy and leave a second comment saying that you did (or if you’re already signed up, leave a second comment saying that you’re already a subscriber).
The contest begins now until Thursday, February 21, 8pm PST.
What your current sleep situation is with your kids? Are they sleeping through the night? Still waking up from time to time? What is your bedtime routine?
Ahhh, I need this book! Madeline’s been going through a crazy sleep regression and I’m so desperate for both of us to get a restful night again, I’m looking into hiring a sleep doula but they’re expensive. Hope I win!
Thanks, Nina!
Queenie recently posted..9 Months!
hi nina – i am not interested in this giveaway though i do appreciate you offering it to your readers. i did, however, felt the need to comment as i know that bedtimes and children’s sleep in general is always a hot and controversial parenting topic. i am one of those parents whose kids barely sleep. i have two boys, a 4-year-old and a 23-month-old, and both of them just seem to be unquenchable in terms of activity, no matter what it may be and no matter how late at night it may be. a typical bedtime for my 23-month-old is between 10-11pm and my 4-year-old usually goes to bed around midnight. a drastic contrast to close friends of ours whose kids are out by 7pm and maybe the latest 8pm. there was a point in time where i felt frustrated and even ashamed (when discussing with other parents) that my kids would not go to bed, but when i thought about it, my husband and i are not sleepers either. we have always slept 5 hours maybe 6 hours a night and so i am thinking this must be somewhere in our genetic code.
my kids’ bedtime is always brought to question from those who don’t really know my family. however, my kids are perfectly healthy kids. in fact, i’m proud to say, that aside from our once considered bedtime dilemma, they have more than exceeded any expectations we could have as a parent. more hours spent with my kids meant more time being able to teach them things. for example, both my kids were potty-trained at 18 months. both were extremely early talkers. we did an infant brain study with my oldest at a local university at one point and he was found to have a higher than normal amount of focus than other children his own age. so exactly what do we do at night when our kids should be in bed and aren’t? well, we read a lot. we do watch tv, but not the kind most watch, i suppose. we don’t subscribe to cable – my husband and i are of the mindset that commercials are too disruptive. we use netflix and watch an endless amount of documentaries. we’ve seen carl sagan cosmos a number of times. my 4-year-old is a huge fan of roman gladiators, knights, and samurais. my 23-month-old is our animal lover and his current favorite show to watch on replay is Microcosmos. we are big fans of ted.org
as far as health, my oldest did not get sick until he was 2. my second one just got sick for the first time this past winter and none of us have ever had the flu and we do not believe in flu shots. we do subscribe to juicing and making healthy shakes for our kids, which i do feel contributes greatly to our overall great health in addition to avoiding eating anything with preservatives.
so, for those parents who have kids who don’t sleep at a considered respectable bedtime, i just want to say that maybe your kids are just wired that way. and perhaps, as parents, we just need to learn to make the best of the situation rather than purchase book after book and try method after method, to only end up in frustration. anyway, something to take into consideration.
daphne recently posted..No Bake Cookie Bites
Hi Daphne, you should check out this post in the archives: http://sleepingshouldbeeasy.com/2012/05/23/how-late-too-late-your-childs-bedtime/ There were many readers who chimed in on their kids’ bedtimes, from the early birds to those who slept later like your kids.
Nina recently posted..The Sleep Easy Solution FREE GIVEAWAY