Sleeping Through the Night

February 15, 2005
Reading 300 plus -page books on bedtimes and napping can be daunting to even the most dedicated parents. However, these two titles make the effort worthwhile, and, undoubtedly, sleep-deprived parents have more incentive than others to learn as much as possible about getting a child to sleep through the night. Mindell (associate director, Sleep Disorders Ctr., Children's Hosp., Philadelphia) and West, a licensed clinical social worker, both pay homage to Richard Ferber ("Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems") while seeking to improve on his "crying it out" practice of discouraging negative sleep associations like parental rocking or nursing the child to sleep. Both authors cover the basics of sleep for infants and young children, e.g., the amount of sleep needed at various ages and the need to establish good sleep routines; both also acknowledge theories of attachment parenting, including support for the family bed, and provide tips for parents who subscribe to those ideas as well as those who choose to let their child sleep separately from them. There are many other similarities between these books, especially in their "gentler" approach to sleep training. The main difference is in their writing styles and descriptions of their approaches. West, perhaps cognizant of parents' time constraints, designs her age-specific chapters as standalone mini guides, with detailed instructions for her "Sleep Lady Shuffle" sleep training method. Mindell's fully updated edition of her 1997 work takes a more holistic approach, and beyond a general description of the steps involved in her "basic bedtime method," she lets parents determine the best ways to implement her guidance; readers will find a new chapter on nap problems and a new section on recurring night wakings, among other features. Mindell's book is an easier read taken as a whole, and coupled with the fact that her book has become a classic, it should be a priority purchase for infant and child development collections. However, West's guide should be an important consideration for larger collections, especially for parents who want help without having to read more than a few pages. -Kay Hogan Smith, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Lib., Lister Hill

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