Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child

by Marcus Howell

Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child
Dr. Marc Weissbluth
1999
Daddy Rating: 0/5

First of all, I want you all to know that I tried really, really hard to like this book. My boss, Jeff, recommended it to me, and then my sister-in-law Fran said she was reading it and finding it useful. But this book is the worst written piece of garbage I've ever laid eyes on, and it bothers me so much that the remainder of my analysis of the book will be cribbed entirely from low-rated Amazon reviews so that I don't waste another second on this junk.

First off, "[a] parent who is sleep deprived needs a book with exact techniques, solutions and action plans written clearly and easily found within the text. This book lacks all of these requirements. It is 503 pages long and I would venture to say that only about 90 of those pages are relevant to the parent looking for answers to a sleepless child."

Additionally, "Weissbluth's definition of a sleep problem is when the child not sleeping becomes a problem for the parent. His solution is that up to four months, parents should meet the babies' needs for cuddles, feeding, etc. After four months, he advocates letting the baby cry it out for however long it takes until the baby stops crying and goes to sleep. The parents are not to check on the baby or pat it's back or talk. When asked 'How long should I let my baby cry?', he replies, 'to establish regular naps, and consolidated sleep overnight, there is no time limit.'" [Note: this reviewer actually manages to give the advice of the book clearly and concisely, which is the exact opposite of the actual book, which, get this, NEVER COMES OUT AND DIRECTLY SAYS TO LET THE BABY CRY IT OUT. Instead, the author implies that this is his advice through anecdotes.]

I give up. Kid is going to sleep or not sleep. There's nothing we could do about it now, anyway. And anything would be better than reading yet another crappy book about how we're bad parents for (i) caring too much, or (ii) caring too little. The next baby book I read will be about something different.