Experts Tell Us the Best Sleep Training Books

I have two toddlers ages two and three and a half. I used Becoming Baby Wise by Dr. Robert Bucknam with both children despite major differences in feeding, personalities, and settings. I used it while I was a working mom feeding my first child (who was very independent) formula bottles. I also used it as a stay at home mom nursing my very clingy second child. I would personally recommend this book to anyone with a baby aged newborn-18 months. They provide detailed schedules for each age range, as well as alterations that can be used for off days, growth, spurts, etc. These schedules include feeding, naps, night time sleep, baths, play time, etc. It can be used as a strict schedule or as a general guide; I have used them both ways. Overall they provide a template for exhausted mothers to use without having to think about what should come next and when.

If you’re looking for a more gentle approach to sleep-training techniques, as opposed to controlled crying or pick up/put down techniques this is the book for you. I like the fact that the author gives science-based advice and answers sensible questions like ‘How long we can expect our children to sleep at each stage of development’. She also addresses how to take care of your own needs and emotions during the early years of parenthood when there’s a lot of disrupted sleep because your feelings and health matter too! A very supportive and reassuring handbook, just what you need when you’re feeling like a failure.

This book is much more than how to sleep train. It’s a breakdown of the science of sleep, education on age appropriate routines, schedules, and sleep needs. Weissbluth describes multiple methods for preventing and solving sleep problems based on a variety of parenting styles. It’s the most inclusive, in-depth child sleep book on the market.

This book reviews newborn and baby sleep science, 0 to 24 months, to help you understand WHY your little one fights sleep, takes short naps and wakes frequently in the night. It gives parent’s an outline of what reasonable stretches of sleep are by age and outlines the main pitfalls parents fall into and how to avoid them. In the newborn stage, The Helping Newborn Sleep Method promotes very gentle sleep shaping by understanding what your baby’s needs are in this stage and helps you avoid common parenting pitfalls by honing your parenting skills. After 4 months, The Helping Babies Sleep Method outlines how to help your little one become an independent sleeper who can be put down fully awake and self soothe to sleep. Dr. Sarah refers to this as sleep teaching rather than sleep training since that’s what our babies are doing – learning the skill of relaxing into sleep. The book gives you the understanding of baby sleep science and behavior and the step by step approach to be successful in teaching your baby to sleep.

It has sensible and remarkable techniques for soothing your crying baby in minutes, increasing sleep, and transforming even the fussiest infant into the happiest baby in the block.