Archives for April 2013

**I am participating in a book review campaign with One2One Network for Harvey Karp’s The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep. I received this book from Harper Collins for the purposes of reviewing it, and have not received compensation.  All opinions stated are my own.**

Sleep.  For parents with little ones, it’s an enigmatic concept that seems forever out of our grasp, particularly in those first few months.  Yet, some parents and their young children struggle with sleep issues for years to come, seeing little to no relief in sight.  With lack of sleep comes countless consequences for the entire family:  it plays an important role in our ability to concentrate, as well as aids in metabolic processes as well — just to name a few.  For new mothers, sleep deprivation can also contribute to postpartum depression.

With parenthood comes a whole new outlook on sleep.  You want your children to sleep.  More importantly, YOU want a good night’s sleep!  And yet, it’s a concept that seems so firmly *just* outside your reach!

Especially in those first few weeks, where newborns ability to sleep for long stretches make quality sleep seem almost laughable, it’s important to be armed with the right tools, and the right information.  Doing a quick Google search for books intended to guide parents of newborns with sleep issues yields an overwhelming response, along with countless mixed messages and conflicting suggestions to help with this most-troubling issue.

Enter: Harvey Karp.  You may recognize the name for The Happiest Baby on the Block and  The Happiest Toddler on the Block.  Now he ‘s created an entire book dedicated to what new parents crave most: a trip to slumberland!  The Happiest Baby: Guide to Great Sleep is now available in paperback, and I recently had the chance to review the book.

Here is my disclaimer: for the most part, my kids have been good sleepers.  My daughter (now 4) and my son (15 months) began sleeping “through the night” after around 4-6 weeks.  My son, in fact, is a champ — he LOVES to the land of nod.  If lunch comes too late, he’ll lay his little noggin on his high chair tray and simply declare “night night”.  I digress.  My kids were not without their own unique night-time issues.  Each have had their bouts of rough sleeping, or rough getting-to-sleep patches.

Were I able to draw on the solutions from Guide to Great Sleep, my life may have been a little easier, perhaps a little saner during those rough patches.  What Harvey Karp’s provides is sleep solutions for children, from birth to age five.  In his latest book, Karp tackles:

• How to train brand new babies to sleep better: Infants can be taught to sleep at least one extra hour from the first weeks of life! Dr. Karp shows how to safely boost baby sleep in just days.

• What’s the best white noise (and which ones worsen sleep): The right white noise (low pitched and rumbling) is the key to good sleep—even through teething—for all babies. Plus, it even gives parents a more restful sleep.  I found this particularly  helpful with getting my son to sleep well in those first few weeks.

• Why parents should always wake a sleeping baby: For good sleep, babies must learn how to self-soothe. The best way to teach babies how to fall back to sleep—when they rouse in the middle of the night—is to wake them just as they’re being put into bed.  And I’ll admit, this was a mistake I made with my daughter, but corrected with my son.  She was nursed to sleep every night for about six or seven months, which lead to me being SOLELY tied to getting her back to sleep if she awoke.  Which she did.

• How to enjoy the benefits – and avoid the risks – of swaddling: Swaddling dramatically improves a new baby’s sleep. Yet, many states are shockingly banning this ancient parenting tool. Smart moms should do it and Dr. Karp will teach them how to do it properly and safely.  With swaddling, I simply have to giggle: my daughter was too wiggly even on day one to be swaddled.  The nurses at the hospital could not pick her jaw off the floor, seeing how quickly my little squirmy-wormy got herself out of that baby burrito.  Yet my son LOVED to be swaddled.  I, in fact, invested in some larger-size swaddlers, to allow him to do so through about six or seven months.  (Remember, my son is the kid who loves to sleep!)  You can read more about his stance on swaddling here, and his reaction to the ban on swaddling in some states here.

• The importance of powering down: Staring at bright screens at night (TVs, computers, phones) can wreak a toddler and a parent’s sleep.  (Whoops!  When else would I get my blogging done?)

• Easy “no-cry” tips that end infant and toddler bedtime struggles in just days!

With The Happiest Baby Guide to Sleep, no longer will new parent have to suffer months of sleep deprivation and no longer will babies have to cry themselves to sleep. Backed by compelling science, common sense and decades of experience, Dr. Karp’s landmark guide will revolutionize how millions of children drift off to dreamland.

You can purchase The Happiest Baby Guide to Sleep in paperback or for your Kindle, and also explore Harvey Karp’s other works here — or click no the widget below for further details.