Book Review: The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley
As a mum who believes in treating infants gently with love and kindness, I have been fortunate and honored to be personally requested by famous author Elizabeth Pantley to review her “No-Cry Sleep Solution” book.
From an empathetic and understanding perspective of a mum of four, Elizabeth Pantley provides much needed help to sleep-deprived mums desperately seeking for solutions to solve their babies’ irregular sleep habits. Instead of the cry-it-out method advocated by nefarious sleep-trainers, her recommended technique, drawn from her personal experience, is mostly based on following instinct and intuition to provide a gentle transition to healthy sleep habits for mum and baby.
Through a clear understanding of babies’ physiology and biological needs, she helps parents set reasonable expectations, and provides useful ideas to achieving a flexible and caring bedtime routine. Some of her favourite tips are the introduction of a “Lovey”, a term to describe a soft cuddly toy or blanket for a baby to become attached to; and the “Pantley’s Removal Plan”, to describe the process of slowly removing the nipple as sucking rate reduces while breastfeeding. With her Ten-Day Nap Log, Ten-Day Pre-bedtime Routine Log and Ten-Day Night-waking Log, she also provides valuable tools that will help parents analyze and evaluate the success of their babies’ sleep plans.
There is no magic formula in this book. As Elizabeth Pantley reminded her readers in the conclusion, all it takes is “patience, patience and just a little more patience” before the baby sleeps through the night, but “this too shall pass”. This book is for mums who put the well-being of their babies above the philosophy of convenient parenting. If you see yourself in her words, then this book is written for you: ” We love our babies irrevocably. We can’t bear to hear them cry. We can’t tolerate the cries of other babies. We have strong opinion about parenting and are not easily swayed by the media, our friends, or even our pediatricians and other “experts”. We know in our hearts what our babies need, we feel what they want. We are mindful of advances in medicine, and wary of philosophies developed in the interest of convenience, we are determined to heed our strong instincts. We are even willing to suffer ourselves in the best interest of our babies.“
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Hi Sandy,
I have seen a lot of great articles on the benefits of co-sleeping with your baby. I have been co-sleeping with mine for over 16 months. Later this winter I’m due to have my second child and would like to move my first into a toddler bed. Any good resources on how to move a toddler out of your bed and into their own?
Thank you
d
Hi Danielle,
Great job for co-sleeping over the past 16 months and huge congrats on the coming arrival of your little one. 🙂 You are right to start planning and getting your toddler mentally prepared to sleep in her own bed a few months before the newborn comes along. Having a new addition can be both a joyful and a stressful event for the family especially when there is an older sibling around. Nothing works better than a kind and gentle transition to maintain the attachment and minimize any form of potential resistance. First of all, get your child involved in choosing her own toddler bed so that she would feel a sense of importance in her choice. Next, taking little naps on the new toddler bed with her and letting her know that you are still around is a great way to get her used to her new territory. Beside that, reading to her some children’s books with illustrations as a daily bedtime routine about transitioning to her own bed is also helpful to get her mentally prepared. One of the more popular choice of books includes “Your Own Big Bed” by Rita Bergstein which is beautifully illustrated with simple texts to help a toddler identify herself with the character. Last but not least, as she gets used to her own toddler bed, keep your door open for her as well, let her know that she is always welcome back to the big family bed at anytime whenever she feels insecure. With patience, empathy and love which is already in you, you will get there eventually. Good luck! 😉
The sleep log is a great bit of advice! Memories tied to a tired state laden with emotional strain are iffy at best. The whole “when did he/she nap yesterday?” question is easily solved by checking the log! Perhaps the child is actually working on a schedule, but you can’t see it because you’re too close to the child and he/she is nowhere near your own desired schedule. It even helps with being a patient parent because you can feel like you’re actively doing something by writing down what happened and when. Patience is best aided when you can feel you have a plan in action.