The No Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
By Elizabeth Pantley, (Contemporary Books, 246 pages $14.95)

No crying? How can this be true? Every book I have read on sleep and babies usually involves a certain amount of crying, usually a lot of crying. So, imagine my surprise when I picked up a copy of this book, read it and loved it! Elizabeth Pantley is first and foremost a mom of 4 as well as a published author (3 books) and parent educator. Her first 3 children are about 2 years apart, eight years later, came the loving inspiration for this book, Coleton. By the time Coleton made his appearance Elizabeth had all but forgotten about sleepless nights. Her first was also a frequent night waker but that had been a long time ago! By the time Coleton was 12 months old and STILL not sleeping more than one and one half hours at a stretch, she was a tired mom. But like many moms out there, her exhaustion moved her to greatness. She became determined to find a plausible way to get our little ones to sleep without trauma to them or us.

Elizabeth compiled lots of notes and ideas and contacted other parents (her 'test parents') going through similar sleep dilemmas in the same or different settings. She read and re-read all the books about babies and sleep. She viewed 'crying it out' as cruel and unusual punishment for all and ruled it out as an option early on in her parenting journey. She did however, discover many interesting ways to encourage sleep and she has put the whole process together in this book.

The No Cry Sleep Solution is for all parents. I recommend reading it before the baby comes! Then spend the first 12 - 16 weeks experiencing your baby and integrate her techniques into your lives as you go along. It addresses a whole myriad of sleep situations: co-sleeping, bassinet, crib, breast, bottle, pacifier or cup, only child or one of many. Elizabeth has a great way to help us see our good intentions as parents and how to achieve even better skills. The book comes complete with examples, sample 'logs' to use to see what is really going on and many stories from parents. She has a great chart on how much sleep a baby/child truly needs and constant sweet reminders that she too is a push over for a crying baby or toddler. She teaches patience and how to measure the smallest successes until they become big successes. She writes about baby safety and sleeping, basic sleep facts, and getting started. She also writes about revising her 10-step plan until it works for you and yours.

Elizabeth's 10-step program will take you on an incredible journey to peace!! She has a monthly newsletter available from her website, www.pantley.com, which serves to further remind us as parents that who we are and what we do is very important. Our future depends on us as parents to do our best to raise the best kids ever so their future will be secure too. The No Cry Sleep Solution makes the whole process just a little easier by providing us with the often-missed link to success.... SLEEP!