I find that a man, even with credentials, is looking at this without any compassion. Babies and children are made to be protected and it is wired into their genes and they don't have sleep problems, just the parents who decide to not attachment parent.
I really tried to be open about this book, but it was a really sad read and I would not recommend it to anyone who loves their child.
It is an improvement from the first Ferber books, but still is so twisted.

This method really works, and that's an understatement. Our granddaughter went from a very poor sleeper to a very good one, almost instantly.

I tried this book and Ferber's method on our 4 month old and it didn't work...the FIRST TIME. When she was 5 months old we tried it again and prepared ourselves, with low expectations, and were pleasantly surprised it worked right off the bat! I think you have to know when YOUR baby is ready to sleep on his/her own. Ours obviously wasn't ready when she was 4 mos, but matured enough a month later. She was premature and colic-y for 4 mos, and we always had to rock her for hours to get her to sleep before laying her down, and naps, well she always had to be on a live person for those or she would cry, cry, cry her self AWAKE.
We followed Ferber's method almost exactly in chapter 4, with crying and checking in set incements. She slept through the night the first night and each subsequent night, no night-waking and never needed to be rocked to sleep. With naps, she cried a little longer, but alway got her self to sleep within 40 min max. She would wake up after 20 min each time she got herself to sleep, but instead of going in to her, we waited it out and she soothed herself back to sleep. YOu also have to decipher what is a TIRED cry and what is an ANGRY cry. If she's whimpering, you know she's tired and will soothe herself to sleep soon, if she's crying full force, you'll probably need to check on her to calm her down.
One thing I don't think Ferber put clearly in his book was whether or not you could pick the child up for the 1-2 minutes you got to check on her or whether to speak to her, etc. Also, could you spend a set amt of time soothing her before putting her down, ie, we rock for 2 minutes and set her down just so it's not just a cold "Laying her down in the crib and leave". He doesn't give a lot of details, but does relate others' stories similar to what your issue may be. The story of "Betsy" in chapter 4 was our baby to a T.
I recommend looking at this book from a library to start with and see if it's something you can see yourself doing. But I never thought a Cry it out method or sleep training would work for us and our colicy baby but was SO SURPRISED it finally worked and fast. OUr little girl is SO much happier from day to day now that she has good, independent rest! I also recommend Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" - he gives a lot of background info on HOW babies sleep, and combined with Ferber's book here, you should have all the tools necessary for sleep training your child. Good Luck!

I bought this book b/c we have 4 children at home ranging from teenager to infant. I wanted to see about our oldest's sleep problem, when our 5 month old started waking up about every 1-2 hours. We weren't sleeping at all. So, we used the Ferber method to get him on schedule. And it worked exactly as he described it. In 2 nights he was back on a schedule and sleeping through the night. It has also helped me understand and help our teenager daughter's problem to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. Then out of no where one of my other sons started sleepwalking. I was terrified until I read about the cause and what I could do to help him. To say I have gotten my moneys worth out of this book, is an understatment. This is a must have book for parents. But, you really need to read the entire book before you start using it's methods. Ferbers methods are not cruel, but rather are a great tool to allow parents to set boundaries and enforce them.

I was very reluctant to try sleep training for our newborn, our first child. I had heard that Ferber was the "cry it out" doc and this is not what I wanted! However, this book was not only informative but quite compassionate and it made a lot of sense. We followed the instructions exactly and within 2 nights, our 5 month old baby was sleeping through the night for the most part! It was both a pleasant surprise (I couldn't believe it worked!) and a relief. Dr. Ferber has included recommendations on how to go through his book quickly and what he feels is essential to read prior to sleep training. This was a nice addition to include.

I was 7 months pregnant when we decided it was time for my 2 year-old to sleep in his room. He used to sleep on the bed with us. He would only fall asleep in his room, if I or my husband sits next to his toddler bed . This became a problem, because he wakes up at 2 or 3 am, and sometimes unable to fall back to sleep right away. So, we go in and out of his room thinking he is asleep only to wake up again, and this left both of us tired, and frustrated. After purchasing the book, and applying Dr. Ferber's methods, my son is able to fall asleep on his own. Now, we do our routine, give him a kiss goodnite, and he goes to sleep. In the middle of the night, when he awakens, I just wait as the book recommends before checking up on him, and most of the time he is able to fall back to sleep on his own, and we don't need to go in his room. It was difficult to let him cry it out as the book suggested, but this method worked for us, and my son sleeps better at night!

My dear daughter just turned 8-months, she is our second baby. She was getting up three or four times a night wanting to be nursed back to sleep. My husband and I are going on a cruise and decided that we needed to do something so our poor parents were not getting up with her. So we read this book (that I bought for my 1st child but never needed) and after three nights, she is sleeping 10+ hours! I was skeptical after the first night of trying it and figured it was a fluke that she slept 5 hours without waking but after the third night I'm convinced this book is genius!

If your child is having troubles sleeping and is older than 3 months old, this book does have good advise and an interesting theory about sleep. However if your child isn't really having problems a good book that just helps you learn about and understand a baby's and a child's sleep schedule and what to expect from children at different ages, try "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child."

I was very worried about letting my 4 month old cry it out. However, we were desperate after having to rock her for sometimes up to an hour for naps which she would sometime wake up from 20 minutes later. AND, she always cried and cried in our arms anyway! We decided to get this book and read it despite all the bad reviews on the Internet. It is truly amazing what happened. The first night of "ferberizing" she cried for 45 minutes. We went in at 3 min, 5 min then every 10 min. It went better than I though...though it was very, very hard. However, after that night....one night....she now goes to sleep without crying for all her naps and bedtime sleep. We are on day 5 now. I am truly amazed. It's remarkable. However, I do believe we got the timing just right. She was starting to sleep quicker when we were rocking her in the previous week and I think she just matured to the point where she was ready. Honestly I think had we not done this she would have been more irritated by us rocking her. I'm soooo glad we got this book. It really isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. There are some very interesting discussions about sleep. It's way better than other books like The Baby Whispere and The No Cry Sleep Solution. Don't waste your time on them. At least get this book and read it then decide if your baby is ready.
It's truly amazing that my 4 month old is sleeping all on her own. She is so much happier, less fussier...AND she slept through the entire night last night...7pm to 7am when she has always woken for at least one feed!! A miracle.

I bought this book thinking it would solve my six month old's sleeping problems but made them worse. The progressive waiting and not picking up my kid when she was crying made her very mad and unable to sleep. After 2 weeks of working on the Ferber method she cried for 3 hours straight. I don't have a problem with Ferber's ideas and principles but there isn't a chapter on what to do if his way doesn't work. A little egotistical on his part that he didn't include a chapter on failure.

As the wife of Harvard Sleep Researcher, imagine my disbelief/distress when my 4-month old was only able to fall asleep via nursing and stay asleep by resting on my chest. My husband suggested the Ferber method and provided me with numerous studies supporting the idea that a little crying is not harmful and WILL NOT make a child insecure, as long as the child is loved and attended to while awake and alert. I resisted his suggestions and was willing (even though I dreaded each evening because I went to bed at 8:00 with a child on me and woke to nurse 3-4X per night)to wait until my son was 6 months to "Ferberize." Last Saturday my husband encouraged me to try the program for 3 nights and thank goodness we did! The first night was tough, but on night 2 our child slept from 8 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. with only 6 minutes of crying and last night he slept from 7:45 until 6:30!!! And he is napping longer during the day and is happier and more playful than ever. I feel like I have freedom again, this method is helping my child and me to have a happier life!!

One note, since we will be traveling for most of August, we have decided to have our son sleep in his pack and play for three nights before we leave town, since he will be sleeping this way for several weeks. We also have prepared ourselves for a few nights of "re-adjustment" when we return from our trip.
Remember: Be strong, be flexible and sleep will happen!!!!!!!!

I stumbled upon this book during an early-morning routine of trying to find some "magic sleeping pill" for my feisty almost 2-year-old. I loved the synopsis of the book, but balked at it being "FERBER"! Like a Pavlovian response, I'd been trained to run from the "cry-it-out" guy. Long story short, that's not what he's all about and actually has a very reasonable and balanced approach to sleep problems. Admittedly, I'm not through the entire book yet, having needed to jump immediately to my child's specific sleep problem, but I am encouraged by the progress made so far and besides, his writing style is great--easy to read and really funny and informative. Can't wait to finish the book...after I catch up on my own sleep!

I bought this book after trying the "no cry sleep solution" which wasn't working. After reading this book and finding out I was actually doing more harm than good by nursing or rocking my daughter to sleep I felt better about letting her cry for a while. Knowing I would be checking on her made me feel better too. So the first evening I put her down and she cried a total of 2 hours before falling asleep with me checking on her every interval as in the book. The second night she fell asleep after 13 mins and the third night after 1 min of just noises not crying. The first day for her naps I did the same and she fell asleep after 8 mins each time with only 1 check. The second day only 5 mins and third right away with little crying. Now a week later she is sleeping 7 hours straight at night and only waking for her feed (she is 4months old) and naps she doesn't cry at all just falls asleep when I put her down. She is so much happier now too that she is not tired from a lack of sleep.

I would definitely recommend following this method to anyone, I know how hard it is hearing the cries but they are cries of frustration at not knowing how to fall asleep rather than needing you I believe.

This book was extremely helpful in getting my little one to fall asleep on his own and stay asleep. I was never aware of his negative sleep associations prior to reading that chapter-but it makes perfect sense.

This book has changed our lives! Dr. Ferber offers helpful advice and teaches you alot about children's sleep patterns. We also found it helpful to read that other people were in the same position we were and were succesful using Dr. Ferber's techniques. We got tired of people asking us if our 6 month old was sleeping through the night since our answer was always no! Now we can say that he is and we are very happy that we took the time to read this book. My recommendation to anyone who plans on using Dr. Ferber's method is to stick it out, be consistent and realize that you are helping your child develop better sleep habits.

The sleep method in this book works! Our baby would only sleep in her swing comfortably, and she was getting a flat head, so we wanted to transfer her to her crib and have her sleep through the night. I was worried about using Ferber, since you hear such awful things about the "letting them cry" method. Well, that's not really an accurate characterization. At first you don't let them cry more than 5 minutes - I know people say that this is so hard to do, but it seems worth it for you to have your sanity and your sleep - which makes you a much better parent (at least it helped me). And I think it was better for her than being strapped swaddled in her swing for the night! In any case, we had one pretty sleepless night in which we followed Ferber's directions oulined precisely in chapter 4. The second night, we put her to bed and she slept through night (she was a little under 4 months of age). She is also breastfed, and according to our pediatrician if she can sleep through the night, there is no need to wake her to feed. She's now almost five months, and regularly sleeps from about 9PM to 7AM, and we don't have to go into her room. She cries for about 4 or 5 minutes when we put her down to sleep, then falls asleep and stays that way. Even if she wakes up and babbles a bit,she puts herself right back to sleep. Within two weeks of starting the "ferberizing" we also were able to take her out of the swaddle (4 months is Karp's recommended time to start trying to get rid of the swaddle if the baby seems ready). All in all, I think Ferber's book is great for getting your infant on a schedule at a young age - and I think it's much easier to do it earlier rather than later (if at all possible, since I know that not all babies are ready to sleep through the night at 4 months).
I plan to use his method again if her sleep patterns change or she has trouble sleeping through the night in the future. And it's NOT inhumane at all, if that's what you are concerned about - she wakes up and smiles at me every morning! 5 minutes of crying certainly isn't going to do anyone any harm! Not even 15 or 30 minutes (the max time he says to go without picking them up - and 30 minutes only comes on day 7, by which point I think the majority of kids have regulated their cycle already!).
Thanks, Dr. Ferber!

This was the last book in the line of many many books that I read...I kept putting it off for fear that "Feberizing" my child would cause him great harm. But my son was still waking up many times a night and seemed ravenous each time. Even my pediatrician couldn't explain why my son kept waking up...he said it sounded like we were doing everything right. After reading the new expanded edition, I find it hard to believe why Ferber has such a bad rap as being harsh. There are several different approaches listed in the book and they all use love and care....with a little bit of crying (we had NO luck after months of the "No Cry Sleep Solution"). This is the only book that showed me the real problem with my son's frequent night wakings...he needed to be weaned off of his nighttime feedings. It is working...I can't believe it. After 4 months of sleep training, something is finally working. Every baby is different and other books might work for other people...but I am so thankful I finally picked up this book.

My husband and I co-slept with our daughter for 14 months, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Those months were really great, and I think during the early months it's a life-saver for mom to get some sleep while nursing all night.

I still think 4 months is too early to "sleep train," but maybe 14 months is too long for some parents to wait. There's probably a middle ground somewhere, but nevertheless I feel like by 14 months our daughter was really ready to sleep on her own. We both read Ferber's book, picked a week when we didn't have many other responsibilities, prepared for the worst - and then.

Easy. She barely cried - 22 minutes total (broken up into 3, 5 then 10 minute intervals) - to begin with, woke up twice the first night, crying even less each time. The second night was easier, the third night she slept 10 hours without a peep.

Now, she prompts us when it's time for sleep by getting her toothbrush and book. Bedtime is easier that it ever was even during co-sleeping, when it sometimes took me an hour to get her to sleep!

We are now 1 month post "sleep training," and most nights she has slept straight through the night. The few times she has woken up, she either falls back asleep after 2 second of crying, or goes right back to sleep when my husband reassures her. Mostly she is just quiet as a mouse.

Yes, we are all getting better sleep, but it's even larger than that. She is happier during the day, she seems MORE confident than before. I think some of the bad experiences with Ferber are due to 1) not actually reading the book 2) not following the instructions in the book 3) doing it too early - i.e. expecting a 4 month old to sleep through the night 4) doing it too late - i.e. when the child can get out of their crib.

I can't recommend this book enough. Dr. Sears is great, I read his books too, but frankly it is so obvious that Ferber is the expert on sleep. Cosleep early to make breastfeeding easier, but by all means give your child the skill to fall asleep on their own when they are ready.

My 19 month old son started waking at 3am almost every night when he was around 17 months and is awake for about 2 hours while we rock him back to sleep. Then, 2 weeks ago he started freaking out when we would put him in his crib awake and tried to climb out immediately. I knew this was a safety hazard and I decided to move him to a toddler bed. I realized that with my worry of him climbing out, I was rushing in to get him back to sleep. These late nights and middle of the morning wakings have taken their toll on all of us, but my biggest concern was for my son. I could see in his tired little face that he wasn't getting enough sleep and it just wasn't healthy for him. The toddler bed turned into another challenge because he thought it was a fun game to run around his room while I tried to catch him. If I put him on his bed, he just jumped right off and thought that was funny, too. Finally, out of desperation, and him not taking anything I said seriously, I started researching different methods to use to get him to understand this is serious and that he needs to go to sleep when I tell him. You can't reason with an 18 month old regarding bed times and why they need to go to sleep. And my son obviously had figured out I was in a predicament and he was in control. (oh, and the other thing is that we could no longer rock him to sleep either, he thought it was a great game to pretend he was sleeping on our shoulder and then pop his head up and smile at us - this game could go on for hours!) So, I debated and finally decided to try the Ferber Method. And let me tell you, the first night, he screamed and banged the door and stomped around his room. He was very upset and angry. And if I wasn't so tired myself, I probably would have given in, but I'm glad I stuck to it. I waited 5 minutes, went back in, then 10 minutes, then back in, then in the next 10 minutes, he quieted down and fell asleep on his rocking chair, I moved him to his bed and he slept through the night. The next night I did the 5 minutes again (I didn't feel right extending it longer the way the book says to), then 10 and this time by the end of the first 10 minutes he had quieted down and settled in for the night - with much less drama. Then, last night (our 3rd night doing this) he yelled, banged the door and was asleep all within 3 minutes! And every night he's slept straight through until morning. He's always been a happy, fun kid, but there was a special calmness and he just seemed to feel better yesterday. He's listening to me more during the day and we had so much fun together without as many power struggles. I think because he's getting uninterrupted sleep, he can function better during the day. If you read the Ferber book, what he says makes so much sense - and really, because you are going back into the room to let your child know you're still there, tending to him, caring about him, it's a humane way to set limits with your child regarding bedtime. If you have a super active, independent, smart toddler trying to get the upper hand with you at bedtime, my experience with the Ferber method is that it's worth a shot. And you can start with much smaller increments of going in to check on your child than the standard 5, 10, 15.... I also asked advice from my friends who have older kids who are well behaved, nice children. And funny enough at some point in the toddler years, they all tried some version of the Ferber method!

I have been trying to get through this book, but for a sleep-deprived mommy of a 2 month-old, its not an easy read. I need simple steps to follow -- this is way too complicated.

We were exhausted when we finally bought this book; trying to get the baby to sleep every night was a long battle, and he would only sleep for a few hours at a time. I recommend reading the first 3 chapters as Ferber does (he explains how sleep works - so insightful), then find the chapter that matches your problem...it was a fast read this way, which is great for tired parents, and Ferber has loving advice for getting your child to sleep on his own. Our son goes right down for the bedtime now, and though he still wakes up once or twice during the night, it isn't for long and normally he puts himself back to sleep. Overall our lives are so much easier now that we've tried this method.

I read an earlier edition of this book in 1998 when my daughter was just a few weeks old.

It is rare when I can say that a book changed my life. But this book did for myself, my wife and our daughter. Within three days of starting the program, we were able to give our child (and ourselves) the gift of good sleeping and of happily going to bed. The effects last to this day, nine years later.

The author has done a great deal of research on sleep, and so comes to the problem as a sleep specialist instead of as a pediatrician (though he works with pediatricians). The theory and techniques presented in the book are based on extremely solid and detailed research. The chief notion used (other than the importance of sleep for so many other things) is the "sleep association". What this understanding leads to is that the people need to sleep in the same environment in which they initially fall asleep. This means that a child shouldn't fall asleep in your arms or while feeding and then be smuggled off to a crib. That is what we had done prior to reading this book.

The actual program pulls at your heart stings to actually do it. But it is not, as some reviewers suggest, "cry it out". Do it. What you are giving to your child is wonderful. After only three nights our child changed from being a cranky baby to an extremely happy one. Later she would sing herself to sleep and when she woke up in the middle of the night, we would hear her singing again and happily go back to sleep.

I haven't looked at the revised edition. The edition that we read may lack some of the "user friendliness" of many parenting books. But if you don't need cute little pictures and big friendly letters, that shouldn't be a problem.

I have two children and with my first baby, I never let him cry. But now with the new baby I wasn't getting enough sleep to function during the day. So I bought this book and tried the method. I started this when he was 3.5 months old. It took only a few days to make a huge difference. Now when I put him down at night he goes to sleep with no crying! It's a life saver! Also if you don't want to try this method, this book is still good to have for the other info in it. There is a lot of good info on sleep terrors, napping, etc.

I got myself mentally ready for this method for a few days before I tried it. I memorized each detail so it would work like clockwork. I, like many parents, don't like listening to my baby scream. When I was ready, we did the Ferber method, and in 2 nights my son was sleeping at least 8 or 9 hours a night. The key for me was reminding myself that babies are different emotionally from adults. If you heard an adult screaming and wailing like I heard my son screaming and wailing, you would assume that they were having surgery without anesthesia, or lost a loved one. Most adults don't make that kind of racket to protest a change in routine. Babies, however, have no other way to communicate. They sound like they are experiencing trauma because they only know one way to protest. That's why, in my opinion, it's better to deal with the sleeping problem before the child is a more nuanced thinker. This way, before baby is a willful, mobile toddler, you already have the system that works for you in place. If having the baby in bed with you or rocking to sleep works for you, than go with it! If not, than give this book a try. If it works, it's a lifesaver.

My only complaint with the book is that it didn't address the question of naps enough. I had a lot of trouble getting my son to nap. Now that he is walking, he tires himself out a lot faster and I can get him to nap, but I could have used some guidance from this book. All in all though, an interesting book, with a lot of informative stuff about baby sleep cycles.

I live in an all-natural, Attachment Parenting town in Vermont where Ferber is a bad word, and "Ferberizing" your child is seen as equivalent to abuse. Before reading this book, I too thought of Dr. Ferber as "The Sleep Nazi." However, I turned to his expertise in desperation when my second baby was nursing every hour or two all night long at six months old. I was on the brink of sanity and needed some concrete help about how to change her sleep habits. This book is well-written, organized and researched, and Dr Ferber is much more mild than I expected given his reputation. His plan of "controlled crying" can be adapted according to parents' and children's needs and temperaments. Within 4 days my six-month old was sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at night-- a huge improvement. And this was without following his plan to the letter (ie. being much more soft-hearted!). If you are struggling with sleep, give Dr. Ferber a chance.

Like many parents, we were at our wits end trying to get our 8 month old to take naps or go to bed. While she often slept okay through the night besides waking up to feed, bedtime was a long, drawn out, hour long affair filled with stress. We faced each night with dread trying to rock and soothe her till she was out. Naptimes were unheard of.

We tried "crying it out" by just letting her scream, but that only made matters worse. Finally I decided I was fed up with relying on second hand information and misguided Internet gossip to try and solve our problems. It seemed like everybody who'd ever so much as looked at a baby assumed they must be an expert. So we picked up this book.

The first thing I could say was that I was surprised at the length. Everyone who'd ever mentioned this book simply truncated it's contents into "let them cry a few minutes then come back and do it all over again". I think I expected it to be 10 pages long. :P

What I got was a long book filled with the actual facts and information about infants and their sleep cycles that I had been desperately searching for. Doctor Ferber references many examples from his years of experience helping families solve their children's sleep problems in the actual medical facility he has worked through. He references so many different issues that families could have that I had no problem finding examples and situations which applied to our baby, along with specific solutions and OPTIONS for how to treat them. We will be holding onto this book for a long time, as it guides good sleep habits well into the teenage years.

All I can say is, thank God for this book!

I was diligent with the methods in this book. However, for the first week he got so scared everytime we left he $#^@ his diaper, after a month of this method, my son was falling asleep faster, but still falling asleep crying and sitting up against his crib rails; he was beside himself in emotional pain; and it made him more anxious and clingy during the day, because he felt abandoned by his parents when he needed them. I had specific problems for which there were no answers in this book. It is not right for every baby. However, less intense, laid back children may respond to this well. I think you have to know your child and do what is right for them. I have had better success with more sensitive methods.

Our 13 month old needed my help going back to sleep 2-3 times each night and her doctor wasn't giving any helpful suggestions. I bought this book and the No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elisabeth Pantley at the same time. While some of the background information about babies' sleep cycles is similar between the books, Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems was exhaustive in the potential causes for ongoing sleep disturbances and emphatic that one should determine all of the causes in order to create a plan that will correct the whole problem. No-Cry Sleep Solution made a small dent in the problem in a few weeks, but within three days of finishing Ferber's book we had our daughter sleeping through the night and napping better during the day.
I found that by using Ferber's proposed schedule in combination with Dr. Harvey Karp's "Toddlerese" from "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" we were able to get her to settle in just a few minutes when we put her to bed, and while she did still wake and cry the first few nights, she only cried for at most 3 minutes and then went back to sleep on her own.
I passed along the book to my best friend who says that my sticky notes were in exactly the right places for their situation with their son. I think I have already recommended this book to every friend and acquaintance with a child under three, and one who has a six year old. If you have a child over six months old who can't fall asleep on her own, buy this book.

The book delivers on the title. We have been having trouble getting our daughter to sleep at night at various times and for various reasons. The methods in this book are well explained and clearly presented. We have had excellent success using the methods in the book. The whole house is sleeping better, and is much less stressed out.

This book, and the infamous term "Ferberizing", have such a bad rap that it was with extreme trepidation I bought this book on the advice of a psychiatrist friend. I was pleasantly surprised that Ferber does NOT recommend simply putting your infant in his crib and closing the door to let him cry until he finally falls asleep. Far from it, Ferber painstakingly describes the many causes of sleep problems commonly seen in infants and children, and provides many sensitive ways of handling them -- most do NOT involve just crying it out.

In fact, where Ferber does recommend putting an infant down to sleep by himself, he actually advocates the "check and console" method -- so the baby is not left crying alone. As we're all learning in parenting, each child is different and if some crying in the crib traumatizes your baby to the point that he or she is terrified of the crib, then don't do it again. But my child, for instance, on the first night cried off and on for 45 minutes (being checked on and comforted every 5-10 minutes); after a few minutes of silence, I snuck in to find him not asleep but happily rolling around in his crib and smiling -- well, obviously I'm not doing any harm!

This book helped me diagnosis my infant's sleep problem (which was NOT that he doesn't know how to put himself to sleep), and find a workable plan. He remains a happy, secure baby.

We've been lucky so far with our little daughter, but after having her sleeping in our bedroom (in her own crib) for over 7 months, rocking her to sleep every night and having to get up at least once most nights to feed her, we decided it was time to gradually make her a more "independent" sleeper before moving her to her own bedroom. I didn't like the idea of letting her cry herself to sleep, even if only for a few nights, so at first I tried "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth PantleyThe No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, which offered some helpful advice, but not a "solution" to our baby's dependence on rocking and feeding. So I relented and decided to give the Ferber method a try (although I set a limit to the amount of crying I could put up with - less than half an hour - and luckily our baby would fuss, not even cry, for no more than 15 minutes in total - before falling asleep). Also, following Ferber's advice, I managed to gradually give up the usual middle-of-the-night feeding and she can now fall back asleep on her own even if she wakes up during the night. It has also helped a lot with daytime naps.
Overall, even if the sleep science theories on which the book is based seem mostly sound to me, every baby is different and I found that Pantley's book pays more attention to this important fact, while Ferber's book is more "detached" and a bit "clinical". I believe Ferber's method works but to avoid putting your baby through a lot of stress, it's crucial that the parents become familiar with their baby's body language (yawning, rubbing his/her eyes, being less active, etc.) and follow his/her clues to decide on his/her bedtime, not just stick to a fixed schedule. I would recommend reading both books before deciding which advice works best for your child and start by using the most gentle ways to get him/her to sleep. I definitely wouldn't use the Ferber method on babies younger than 6 months (for babies 0-3 months old I would recommend "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. KarpThe Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer).

I just purchased this book and started reading it last week. Our 6.5 month old has only slept more than 5 continuous hours on 4 occasions. Both my husband and I were exhausted. We travel quite a bit and know it is taking its toll on us as well as our son. After reading this book I feel like I understand what elements we should focus on. We had heard about the Ferber method and tried it prior to reading this book. It worked a little but what we didn't understand was we were not being consistent enough. In the past week we kept a log like the one illustrated in the book and it was amazing how little he was sleeping. He always seemed exhausted. In just one week, we have increased the amount of "quality" sleep he gets by about 4 hours... and the best part is that he goes down at 8pm with no more screams and is able to soothe himself back to sleep when he wakes of up in the middle of the night.

The book isn't going to tell you anything you haven't heard of... but what it will do is help you put the right situation together for YOUR child because they are ALL so different.

I am sure I will consult this book as my son gets older... there are tips on how to manage the toddler who won't stay in bed... toilet training toddlers... and again tips on traveling.

I first read this book in 1996 when I could not get my first child to sleep more then two hours at a time at night and my son was three months old. I heard about it from other mothers. I loved it! The author had done research on the topic and explain why his approach worked. I used it with the other three child and saw great results. Now, I wanted to share the book with other first time moms and was excited to see it was revised and still being printed. The nice part about this book is it is not just for infants but gives advice for older children having sleeping issues too.

I highly recommend Dr. Ferber's book. It has helped me out tremendously with my little girl. Extremely well written with great compassion. Incredibly insighful with real solutions and how to implement them. We, at Healthy Habits, Healthy Kids www.hhhkids.com give out free tips on getting kids to eat right, sleep well, and be happy and we have recently featured Dr. Ferber's book because of it's extraordinary advice on how to help your child through this time in his/her life. What I took away from this book most was the powerful influence night/sleep associations have on your child. Making the conditions consistent and what you want them to be is crucial. He explains how it would be like you, the parent, waking up in the middle of the night and your pillow has vanished. Very unnerving. Equally as unnerving for your child who went to bed with you in her room and then woke up with you gone. It is truly a must read!

Sometimes I wonder if people who talk about how damaging "Ferberizing" is to a child have actually read the book. I find that most experts are opposed to simply letting your child cry it out is damaging and when I finally got off my sleepless high horse and read Feber, No Cry Sleep Solution and the Science of Parenting, I came back to Ferber. For our child, the gentle way did not work and no one in the house was getting any sleep. My first child didn't have sleep issues so I could easily say that I would NEVER let my child cry it out. Number 2 was completely different. While #1 slept better in our bed, #2 did not and at 8 months had never slept more than 2 hours straight. This not only made nights rough for all of us, but days too and as we all got increasingly sleep-deprived we had to do something.

I bought all the books and read them and made sure there was nothing medically wrong with our baby before embarking on the plan and we found the progressive waiting approach very effective. We decided to have a cut off and if she cried longer than one hour we'd ditch the program all together. The most she cried was 45 minutes the first night. We were with her the entire time.

I just don't by the argument that if you let them cry using the method described in the book that you are harming the baby. The most telling quote in the book was when he says that if your baby wants to touch the stove and cries to touch the stove, are you going to let them touch the stove to comfort them? No, if they are in danger, you prevent them from it, no matter how much they cry.

Sleep issues are huge problems and when I poll people who say they have sleep issues, they often point to not having routines as children as an issue. I realize this is antedotal, but still.

I think you have to do what's right for you, but after finally reading the book and embarking carefully, we have an entire house getting the sleep they need.

It even worked for my three year old who went through a phase when he kept getting out of bed. We say, I think you need help getting to sleep. I'm going to shut the door a bit. We have never had to keep the door shut longer than 15 seconds.

I want to add that I recommend reading more than one method and deciding what's right for you. I think with knowledge from different sources, we somewhat incorporate many methods, but ultimately a solid bedtime routine and a plan for helping them self-soothe is what works.

Also, a study came out saying that it's the routine most of all that helps them sleep.

I suggest this book....to those who want to be cruel parents. I immediatly returned this book after understanding Dr. Ferber's method.

When our daughter was 10 months old, my husband and I used Dr. Ferber's book to help us teach our daughter to sleep in her own crib. It was hard to hear our daughter cry but we trusted Dr. Ferber's advice and expertise. And it has worked for us. Another great thing about the book is that you can use the book as a reference for every stage in life, from infancy to the golden years!

I swore I would never let my child cry herself to sleep but I finally gave in. Our 5 month old baby was waking 6 times a night, couldn't nap, and was chronically sleep deprived. I bought this book and the Sleepeasy Solution book. Both books were good - this book had more information on sleep association and was a little more academic. Great tool for tried parents and tired babies. Our baby now 'sleeps like a baby'!!

Read this book (Ferber's). Then read Sear's books. Then read Pantley's. THEN read the "Science of Parenting". Once you compare them all, you will certainly decide, like I did, that the Ferber method is damaging to your child. Yes, I know these are strong words. I will say it again. Ferber's methods will permanently DAMAGE YOUR CHILD. I know that you are looking for the easiest way to get your child to sleep. Ferber's methods may work, but think twice before you use them. I am a biologist and a mother. I used my intuition and I didn't use the "Cry it out Method" (Ferber's method). I got a lot of pressure from many people to use the Ferber method. I didn't. Then, I read the "Science of Parenting", and I was really glad that I didn't use Ferber's suggestions. The "Science of Parenting" does not support Ferber's methods and it continues to describe how his method will hurt your child in the future, neurologically. It is an excellent book & it is backed by SCIENCE. I highly recommend reading that book before you go with Ferber's methods. In fact, if you only read ONE book, then the "Science of Parenting" should be the one. You may get a lot of moms, parents, mother-in-laws, etc telling you that Ferber's methods are the only thing that works, but are you willing to hurt your child just because it works to "shut him up"? Think hard. Educate yourself. Read and learn about what you are about to do before you decide to use the Ferber method. Read the "Science of Parenting" before you decide to apply the Ferber method. What can it hurt? You will be helping your child for life.

Don't waste any of your time reading No CRY Method and go straight for the Ferber method. This book is also very interesting and it is a good reference. It took less than one day and 20 minutes total cry time and 40 minutes of our anguish to sleep train our daughter for good. Now she sleeps through the night since she was 5 months old. Prior to that we tried No Cry Method and spent hours and hours trying to get her to sleep. This book is a godsend.
Thank you Dr. Ferber!

My two boys, 3 1/2 years, and 2 years, were both "Ferberized" around 5 months old and it worked like a charm. Back then I learn about the Ferber method through citations in other author's books, magazines, and friends. My 3 1/2 year-old started waking up every night about a year and a half ago. During that time we sold and bought a new house, my husband start his traveling again, both of our brothers were married, etc. But enough was enough so after reading five books on children's sleep this week Ferber once again struck a chord and made sense, especially where it concerned preschoolers. I started "Ferberizing" again tonight and it worked after 15 minutes! I was so excited I had to write this review (the first I've ever written on Amazon). Give me strength for tomorrow night in case this was a fluke.

My son never really had sleep issues until he about 3 weeks ago when he turned 4 months old. Even though it's tough on me getting up every night to give him a bottle, I didn't really mind that, it was the going to bed that was getting more and more difficult. No matter how many books we read or how long we rocked, he still screamed every night when put in his crib for up to an hour (I would go in and comfort him of course during these times) and then wake up screaming after sleeping for an hour or so. I was worried, thought he was having nightmares. At four months old I wasn't sure if he was just too young to address any sleep issues but I bought the book anyway thinking if he was too young, at least I would be prepared for when he got older. To my surprise, the book addresses babies as young as 3 months old and how they should be sleeping at that point. The funny thing is the first case study addressed in the book was my son to a tee. Of course I wanted to jump ahead and read about how to fix this but I persevered and read the entire book, and found the information very helpful. I do admit, as soon as I go the basic idea, I began to adjust his schedule and changed how he was put down and within 2 days I could see a difference!! The first night was horrible but as the nights went on I had to go in his room less and less, and as of now (it's been about a week and a half) my son goes to bed very easily and is sleeping through the night!! (an added bonus) The book does get a little tedious when talking about the medical aspect of it but overall it was a lifesaver, I already recommended it to to friends.

Prior to reading Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, I have only heard negative comments about Ferber. "Oh, the 'Cry-it-out-Guy,'" people would comment whenever his name surfaced. However, I was getting desperate. I was tired of waking up at 12:00 am, 1:00 and 2:00 am to resettle my four month old daughter. She seemed to settle back to sleep only when I picked her up, and she nestled into my arms.

Although I thought his work wouldn't apply to me -- I mean, hey, my baby doesn't have "sleep problems" -- she falls asleep very easily when it comes to naps and nighttime, and I only have to rock her back to sleep in the wee hours. But I realized that this was the problem!

Babies don't come into this world knowing how to do anything. Think about it: whether we're breastfeeding or bottle feeding, often times a lactation specialist has to come in to teach our babies how to latch on and then they (babies) have to learn how to take a bottle.

So why would we expect them to know how to sleep?

Ferber explains just this, giving very informative (and interesting, mind you) info on baby sleep cycles. Through anecdotes and analogies, he explains why "sleep associations" (rocking, holding, pacifiers, superfluous late night feedings) need to be stopped in order to help your baby learn how to fall asleep by himself.

After reading, I asked myself, "What's my goal?" If it was to simply get my child back to sleep when she woke up, I could surely keep picking her up and rocking her for the next couple of years I suppose. But I realized that my goal is to get her to be able to put herself back to sleep. And Ferber taught me how to do this.

By putting your awake (but tired) baby down to sleep and consistently checking in on her according to time intervals with which you are comfortable, you essentially teach your little one how to soothe himself or herself.

This is day two and already I've noticed a remarkable difference. Last night at 7:00 my husband and I put my daughter down, and after 3 minutes of crying, I did a check. Just stood there so she could see me and kept making a "Shhhh" sound. Left after a minute. What followed were 5 minutes of crying. Again, another visit, same deal. More crying followed, but before 10 minutes were up (my next scheduled check), her cries became staggered. They turned into little mumbles. With a quick check on my video monitor, my sweet pea was asleep!

She woke up for a feeding at 11:30. I treated her wakefulness as interrupted sleep until I realized she had her hungry cry -- you know, the "Nyah, nyah, nyah" sounds. Fed her and didn't see her smiling face until 6:00 in the morning.

Notice I say smiling. She hasn't spit in my eye or given me the ol' stink eye for that matter.

We've been following the routine with naps. Ferber includes fantastic help on how to handle naps.

All in all, do yourself a favor and just get this book. You will notice a difference in literally a couple of days.

For those people who claim that their child only got more agitated when they came into the room -- well, yes, that did happen. Sometimes my daughter would begin smiling and laughing. I didn't return her enthusiasm, just kept a straight face, shhh'ed and left. I wonder if those people had problems with the program because they went in at the inappropriate times. (In other words, just because your child is making noise doesn't warrant a check-in. He/she needs to be crying or calling for you. As long as your baby is safe -- no arm/leg hanging out of a crib slat, etc... -- those other noises might be attempts at self-soothing and sleep!)

Hope this helps.

After reading just a few of the tips on getting my child to sleep ... we were sleeping through the night that weekend!
Key take-aways were positive re-inforcement using the gate at their door - bribery after a good night and sometimes just letting him cry it out!

My husband and I had tried pretty much every method for getting our one-year-old to sleep through the night, so I was skeptical that we would get results with this book. The first night he cried for about 15 minutes, and every night after that it was less and less. These days, there's no crying at bedtime. Now he's sleeping through the night (YIPPY!) and naps are great. He seems so much happier and feels so much better now the he gets such good sleep. If you're at your wits end like we were, try this method. You'll be glad you did!

There are so many debates regarding the ferber method, however, you must read the book before you make a judgment! Many think it's just letting a child scream their head off before he/she falls asleep, not the case. At 2 months my son (breastfed) was getting up 1x per night consistently. However, at 3 months he went backwards getting up 3-4x per night. So we decided to make a change. I read Dr. Ferber's book and there were so many things that made so much sense...My husband and i were not enabling him to fall asleep on his own, he needed us to fall asleep and get back to sleep once he woke up. After reading the book we made a few minor changes and he's doing wonderfully, major difference within 3 days! He is napping like a champ and nights are a JOY!! The most he ever cried was 15 minutes. He's still a happy baby with a strong attachment to my husband and I. Actually, he's happier now that he is getting healthier sleep. I would strongly advise anyone to read this book if you're having any problems with sleep. It made a huge difference in our family's life!

After trying the "No Cry Sleep Solution," I tried this book. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first. But it works! This book gives very interesting examples of adult vs infant/child sleep assocations, as well as interesting and informative information relating to a infant/child's sleep cycles. As long as you can stand a little crying~ this book will work. I have a Summer Day/Night color video monitor, so it was reasurring to me to be able to watch my son on the monitor in between "reassuring" times. I was able to know that he wasn't hurt while he was crying. You also have to learn to distance yourself from the crying. I would quietly fold laundry and try to think about other things, while diligently watching the clock. The first night was the roughest for my ll month old son. Along with learning to fall asleep without me holding/rocking all night, I also decided to eliminate the pacifier also (the book says you can do it all at once or take slower gradual steps). He fell asleep the first night after 1.5 hours (It was horrible for him and I, he basically just exhausted himself to sleep). The second night was better, only 35 minutes. The 3rd night was 8 minutes, and the 4th night was 6 minutes. After that it was less than a minute. After one week~ he would reach for his crib to go in it. No crying! As soon as I put him in it, he'd fall right to sleep. It's been that was for almost 2 months now. He has NO problem falling asleep and putting himself back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night (He used to wake numerous times just for his pacifier). He no longer needs a pacifier OR me rocking/holding him to go to sleep. We are both getting the sleep we both so desperately needed and deserved. I highly recommend this book if you can handle a few nights of crying. And it's only a FEW nights. I would say that a few rough nights are worth many great night's sleep. The book is not extremely strict, you can deviate from the "reassuring times" as the book states you can. If 5 min. in the beginning is too much for you, you can start with 3 minutes. Good luck getting the sleep you and your child so desperately deserve!

I was really torn about trying this method, but after reading all the outstanding reviews and success stories, I thought I would give it a try. We were having such a hard time getting our 4-month old to settle at night and for naps because he was completely pacifier addicted. Actually, to clarify, he was not using the pacifier during the day at all, but was 100% relying on it at night to get to sleep. If it fell out before sleep, you either replaced it umpteen times, or he would cry and this cycle could go on for hours. I tried the Baby Whisperer, I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, but neither were very helpful or effective.

I was stunned and amazed but our son went to bed on night 3 without one whimper or cry. Night 1 was 40 minutes of crying, 4 checks, Night 2 was 20 minutes, and 3 checks, and Night 3 - smiles, restful sleep, and blissful silence! I really didn't think this was possible. The last thing I saw after I kissed him goodnight was him grinning at me. I feel completely confident that 2 short episodes of crying did not make him worse for the wear whatsoever.

This book gets 5 stars because it WORKS!

My husband and I finally gave in and decided to give "Ferberization" a shot about three weeks ago, when our daughter was almost 9 months old. Before that, she was sharing our bed and breastfeeding every 2 hours throughout the night.

Let me tell you, it was not easy! The first night she cried 2+ hours, and I was crying right along with her. The second night was no better. The third and fourth nights seemed to be better, but it could have been because she was exhausted. She became hoarse from all of the crying. Her spirit seemed down. By the fifth night, we became discouraged because she didn't seem to be improving.

We followed what Dr. Ferber said for the most part. There were a few times when I just couldn't take it anymore and I went in her room to bring her back to our bed. It felt so good to have her little body back next to me in bed. Later we realized that breaking the rules was just making things worse - she was getting confused. We had to make a decision: either stick with it, or give up.

We didn't give up. We really wanted her (and us) to get quality sleep. After about a week, things drastically improved. She was no longer hoarse, her personality was back, and she was sleeping through the night about 9 hours or so. This was a huge improvement from waking up every 2 hours throughout the night.

I read Weisbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and also Pantley's "No Cry Sleep Solution." Ferber's one was the only one that my husband and I felt like we could follow and stick with. Weisbluth's method is just too drastic, and Pantley doesn't really give you a plan that you can stick to. We felt confident that Ferber knew what he was writing about, considering his background as a sleep expert.

We never thought we would need to resort to "cry it out", as we had been following attachment parenting principles all along. We figured our daughter would eventually learn to sleep through the night on her own. She never did, so we chose this method. We are so glad we did, because it really worked.

This was very tough for all of us for the first week, but now she is a much happier baby. She even seems to have matured a little, and I think she feels a sense of accomplishment in a way. She doesn't whine much during the day like she used to, because now she is well-rested. She LOVES her crib and pretty much just falls asleep when one of us puts her in it. Her napping schedule is loose, but her bedtime is rigid - between 8:00 and 8:30 pm.

If you are going to do this, you MUST stick with it and don't give up! It will eventually work.

I havent bothered to finish reading this book because it helped me to solve my childs sleep problem in the first several chapters. My one year old daughter had never slept through the night. My wife or I would usually have to get up at least once a night to rock her back to sleep. This particular problem is addressed early on in the book before more serious sleep problems are discussed. Needless to say I found this book very helpful.

This book is heavy on the science and medicine of sleep. I found this helpful, but some people might find this level of detail distracting.

The sleep technique taught in this book is refered to in many other books my wife and I have read. It is basically letting your child fall asleep on her own, while own while visiting her periodically. If you absolutely can't listen to your child cry this may not be the system for you. Still this book does address the different reasons a child won't sleep through the night so even if you are not interested in letting your child sleep this book may be helpful.