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Books I was meaning to read...
Mar. 18th, 2005 11:55 am…and finally did. You know, those books you keep hearing about, or reading about, and you say to yourself, “I really ought to read that book.” Here’s two I can now cross off my must-read list.
The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley If you have a baby and are having or want to forestall sleep problems, this is The Book being read in my circles. So, I had to read it to find out what the fuss was all about. The author of the book, a mother of four, was looking for a way to help her wakeful fourth child sleep through the night. She found two answers: either let the child cry until he falls asleep, or live with it. She wrote this book as a third option, a way to help a baby fall and stay asleep without the pain of cry-it-out methods. The book starts with the basics of safety and how sleep works in infants. Then, she starts the program: First, catalogue how your baby sleeps now – for naps and nighttime, where, how long, and how the baby fell asleep. Next, read through her suggestions and formulate a plan that you think will work. Try it for ten days, do the cataloguing thing again, and adjust any elements that you think need changing. She’s big on routines and teaching a child to fall asleep without a nipple in the mouth, and includes advice for crib-sleeping and co-sleeping babies, as well as tips for weaning a baby from co-sleeping to the crib. So, does it work? Well, happily my Mr. FP has never had the sleep problems she describes – waking every hour and not wanting to go back to sleep. On the plus side, she tested her methods with I think 70 or 80 mothers and had about a 95% success rate (I say about as I already returned the book.) She states is that this kind of method will take longer to work than cry-it-out methods, but that the once accomplished, the sleep patterns will be more firmly established than with cry-it-out methods. Using the full method requires a whole lot more record keeping and commitment than I’m willing to put into it at this point, particularly since we’re not having huge problems. This seems to be the case with most of the mothers I’ve talked about it with, as well. If you’re really desperate, they probably will work. If you’re looking for only minor improvements, there’s a smorgasbord of ideas to choose from, as well as suggestions for establishing good sleep habits before problems develop.
Ida B: - and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan This is a beautiful, wonderful book. I left it out where my Mommy could read it while she was watching Mr. Froggy Pants, and she read it in one sitting. (OK, part of that was Mr. Froggy Pants wanting to cuddle with his grandma, but still.) Eleven-year-old Ida B, after a traumatizing experience with public school in kindergarten, has been home-schooled ever since. Life with her parents on the farm, talking with the apple trees, is “just about righter than right.” Then her mother gets sick, and her parents decide that she must go to the public school. Her heart shrivels up into a hard black rock that will hurt anyone that tries to get in. Ida B, even with a shriveled-up heart, is full of life and eloquent, memorable phrases. I say, reluctantly, being aimed at children, this book probably isn’t for everyone. But if you like children’s books at all, or if you have a child in the 8-12 range in your life, do read this book.
The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley If you have a baby and are having or want to forestall sleep problems, this is The Book being read in my circles. So, I had to read it to find out what the fuss was all about. The author of the book, a mother of four, was looking for a way to help her wakeful fourth child sleep through the night. She found two answers: either let the child cry until he falls asleep, or live with it. She wrote this book as a third option, a way to help a baby fall and stay asleep without the pain of cry-it-out methods. The book starts with the basics of safety and how sleep works in infants. Then, she starts the program: First, catalogue how your baby sleeps now – for naps and nighttime, where, how long, and how the baby fell asleep. Next, read through her suggestions and formulate a plan that you think will work. Try it for ten days, do the cataloguing thing again, and adjust any elements that you think need changing. She’s big on routines and teaching a child to fall asleep without a nipple in the mouth, and includes advice for crib-sleeping and co-sleeping babies, as well as tips for weaning a baby from co-sleeping to the crib. So, does it work? Well, happily my Mr. FP has never had the sleep problems she describes – waking every hour and not wanting to go back to sleep. On the plus side, she tested her methods with I think 70 or 80 mothers and had about a 95% success rate (I say about as I already returned the book.) She states is that this kind of method will take longer to work than cry-it-out methods, but that the once accomplished, the sleep patterns will be more firmly established than with cry-it-out methods. Using the full method requires a whole lot more record keeping and commitment than I’m willing to put into it at this point, particularly since we’re not having huge problems. This seems to be the case with most of the mothers I’ve talked about it with, as well. If you’re really desperate, they probably will work. If you’re looking for only minor improvements, there’s a smorgasbord of ideas to choose from, as well as suggestions for establishing good sleep habits before problems develop.
Ida B: - and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan This is a beautiful, wonderful book. I left it out where my Mommy could read it while she was watching Mr. Froggy Pants, and she read it in one sitting. (OK, part of that was Mr. Froggy Pants wanting to cuddle with his grandma, but still.) Eleven-year-old Ida B, after a traumatizing experience with public school in kindergarten, has been home-schooled ever since. Life with her parents on the farm, talking with the apple trees, is “just about righter than right.” Then her mother gets sick, and her parents decide that she must go to the public school. Her heart shrivels up into a hard black rock that will hurt anyone that tries to get in. Ida B, even with a shriveled-up heart, is full of life and eloquent, memorable phrases. I say, reluctantly, being aimed at children, this book probably isn’t for everyone. But if you like children’s books at all, or if you have a child in the 8-12 range in your life, do read this book.
