The No-Cry Sleep Solution

By: Elizabeth Pantley

Reviewed By: Jon Henshaw, M.A.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution
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My wife and I recently had our first child. The first week with our daughter was great. She slept a lot, breast fed well, and we were convinced that we had given birth to an angel. Getting her to sleep during that first week was easy. We would wrap her in a blanket like a burrito, place her in the bassinet or crib, and she would be out. Unfortunately, our honeymoon was soon over after that first week.

As she began to experience her new surroundings, and started to go through tremendous growth spurts, she became increasingly difficult to comfort. As new parents, we felt lost with the multitude of advice coming from our friends and family. There was also the frustration of feeling like we weren't meeting the needs of our daughter, because of her constant restlessness and screaming.

Fortunately, Elizabeth Pantley had recently mailed me a copy of her book, The No-Cry Sleep Solution, to review on FamilyResource.com. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Elizabeth's book was packed full of useful knowledge and wisdom to help any parent care for their newborn or older baby.

In the second chapter of The No-Cry Sleep Solution, Elizabeth focuses on educating parents on the basic sleep patterns of babies. Most parents (including us) are quick to believe that their newborn baby has sleep problems, simply because they can't seem to get their baby to sleep on a schedule. In response to this common misperception, Pantley writes:

"Newborn babies do not have sleep problems, but their parents do. Newborns sleep when they are tired, and wake when they are ready. If their schedule conflicts with yours, it's not a problem for them; they don't even know it."

After educating parents about basic sleep facts, she walks the reader through the process of keeping sleep logs. The logs are easy to understand, and she provides templates that parents can use for their own logs. My wife and I weren't exactly in a place where we wanted to start keeping logs yet. However, if you have disinterest in the logs like we did, it shouldn't deter you from getting the book. The chapters that discuss the logs, also include an innumerable amount of helpful suggestions for how to teach your baby good sleep patterns and waking behavior.

The chapter we found most helpful was the one entitled, "Review and Choose Sleep Solutions." Elizabeth breaks up the sections into newborns and older babies. The newborn chapter was a God send for us. Suddenly, much of our daughter's behavior began to make sense to us. One of the many things she talks about is day/night confusion. She suggests not having your baby nap too much during the day, because the infant may get day and night mixed up, which may be why she's up all night.

Parents will enjoy the inserts throughout the book called, "Mother-Speak." Mother-Speak consists of short quotes from real mothers describing their experience trying to get their baby to cry less, and sleep better. I felt like Mother-Speak did a good job of connecting the content with the reader, and I think it helps give the reader a sense of normalcy and hope regarding their situation.

Finally, probably the most educational chapter in the entire book is chapter 8, "Analyze Your Success." There is so much accumulated research and advice in this chapter, that it could be its own book. This chapter seemed to cover everything, literally!

The No-Cry Sleep Solution is a must have for parents of babies (newborn to 2-years-old). If it wasn't for this book, I'm not sure how our sanity would be right now. Thank you Elizabeth for writing an incredibly useful and helpful book!

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