Unprofessional Parenting

Weissbluth, Marc M.D. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. New York: Ballentine Books. Third Ed. 2003.

I was given this book as a gift when my first son was around 1 year old. It proved indispensable! I wish I would have had it sooner as it has solved a number of sleep problems my son had that could have been avoided if I had had this information a bit sooner.

From getting young kids to bed at night to solving wake up problems the advice has worked well for me for my older son and now I can start from the beginning with son #2. I have recommended this book to friends and family a thousand times so I thought I should post it here as well.

As a warning part of the process for correcting sleep problems in babies is potentially letting them “cry it out.” I mention it because I know some parents have strong aversions to this method as it might seem cruel (and is certainly difficult on the parents). Dr. Weissbluth does offer some alternatives for those who might have trouble with this but my experience was that letting my son cry only lasted three days and was absolutely worth it in the end. It was hard for us to listen to but our son obviously survived and I am absolutely grateful to this book for teaching me how to teach him to fall asleep by himself.