The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Gentle Ways to Stop Bedtime Battles and Improve Your Child's Sleep (Pantley)

"This book worked for me. It made me realise that the difficulty my daughter had falling to sleep was perfectly normal. Rather than trying to fix something that is not broken, I've decided to appreciate the time with her.

This book is like a good friend. It is reassuring when you start to wonder if you are doing the right thing and it reminds you that the most important thing is that children grow up fast."
~ Written on 2006-09-09

"I have used The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Babies before, but when my baby girl turned one I faced issues that that book did not deal with: separation anxiety, early awakenings and changing from two naps to one. Two weeks after I started working on the solutions suggested in this toddler-adapted book, she slept her first ten-hour stretch at night ever, followed by a two-and-a-half hour nap the day after (also this a record)!

Although many solutions in this book are not for one-year-olds, it is a very useful book to have as toddlerhood approaches fast and with it its problems. The book is an excellent follow-on to Pantley's first, with only some necessary repetitions and plenty of imaginative suggestions to make sleep work and your child feeling happy and secure. I have been under a lot of pressure, tried CIO three times and had to battle the cries at night afterwards - I always went back to my No-Cry Solution book and re-read it, started over, and got much better results.

Just get the book! You will not regret it."
~ Written on 2006-06-02

"Having read many books on sleep solutions, which generally offered a variation on the same theme, I found this book positively uplifting. The author empathised with how parents of non-sleepers feel and offered practical solutions, with more than one to try for each type of problem. You also realise that, contrary to popular belief, there is no 'right' way to do things and that you should do what you feel is best for your own situation. Excellent value in terms of price too."
~ Written on 2005-11-11

"I am so excited about this book!! For anyone out there with kiddies between 12-ish months and 6 years or so who is frustrated with sleep issues ...
I can not recommend this book highly enough!!! IT IS WONDERFUL!!!

I have a toddler and a preschooler with entirely different sleep issues, and this is working for both!

I'm just not a 'cry-it-out' mom. I've tried once or twice out of utter desperation, but it just isn't a solution for our family. It just doesn't feel right for us.

I read this book in a day (ok I was obsessed and driven by desperate fatigue LOL) and we've been following some suggestions for less than a week. Already our boys' sleep problems are improving (almost gone in fact!) & their day times are better now too! We are having fewer mood swings and 'spats' (we don't usually have full blown tantrums to begin with, but even the mini - strops that we sometimes get are gone!) They are both more settled and content, all due to new routines and better quality of sleep. I am more rested and better able to cope in the day too!

I'm no moron LOL - I hate being told how to do my job! I consider myself a great parent who does an amazing job ... we've simply been struggling with sleep issues for a while now, and the whole family has been tired as a result.

IMO, sometimes when we get so wrapped up in our own difficulties, it becomes a 'forest for the tress' situation. This book helped us get back to basics without preaching rights from wrongs. I find the whole attitude and approach straightforward, gentle and encouraging, without being condescending.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it isn't 'Parenting 101 for Idiots' like some parenting self-help books can be. The advice and suggestions are simple and basic, and more importantly kind and gentle to our children! No quick-fix-child-training, more of a new perspective for the whole family.

It's great to get back to the basics without being made to feel an idiot for needing a little help. AND IT's WORKING!!! Our neighbours have noticed a difference already (in all of us!) and are lining up to borrow it ... I don't want to part with it though!"
~ Written on 2005-08-11

"Our 15 month old son has had difficulty sleeping since infancy. He suffered from acid reflux, regular runny noses and ear infections for several months as a baby and this had an impact on his ability to sleep well. He would scream when laid down in his cot and although he would quieten when lifted, he would then fight sleep for hours until he was so overtired, it was even more difficult for him to settle down to sleep. Although his health problems are behind him, the legacy of his sleep problems remain. We tried so many different ways of settling him to sleep and have him sleep through the night, including staying with him and the crying it out approach. Neither of them provided any particular level of success. Our older son, who has always slept well was our benchmark and when nothing we tried seemed to work with our younger son, we became confused, disillusioned, anxious and felt guilty about the way we were approaching our son's sleeptimes. Then I read Elizabeth Pantley's book and everything is beginning to turn around.

I liked it firstly because I had never seen a book focusing specifically on toddlers and pre-schoolers before and I was keen not to try and make suggestions made in other baby sleep books 'fit' around our toddler son. From its first pages, Elizabeth's advice is practical, gentle, loving and designed to suit a variety of family circumstances. She does not advocate a one size fits all approach, rather giving several suggestions to each particular sleep issue, which you can choose from based on your own particular family situation. Nor does she suggest that her advice will offer a quick fix solution to your child's sleep difficulties. Persistence and patience are required, however, if like us, you have persisted with other methods which haven't worked, these gentle, more loving solutions are much easier to follow and will hopefully meet your child's needs and make you feel a lot better about yourself as a parent!

Her sleep logs can be printed and completed to give you a baseline on which to base your sleep plan. She gives 'Eight sleep tips for every child', before offering solutions for the widest variety of invidual sleep difficulties. I read the book from cover to cover but you could just as easily dip in and out of chapters depending on what particular issues you are facing. Perhaps most importantly for us, Elizabeth's advice has allowed us to really listen to our son and as a result to meet his sleep needs far better than we were before. Despite the fact that we believed we had a consistent bedtime routine, which we had always followed for our older child, a few changes based on Elizabeth's advice have made bedtime a less stressful, more gentle, loving, fun and special time for us all as a family. Our son is settling to sleep quicker and without tears and is sleeping longer through the night. If you have a toddler or pre-schooler who has difficulty with sleep and as a result, so do you, then I recommend that you read this book!"
~ Written on 2005-08-02