Hello Baby Blog

The No Cry Sleep Solution

The No-Cray Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley is a great alternative to the “cry it out” method. I am already dreading the sleep-deprivation brought on by an infant. So I welcome any ideas to help a mother get more sleep by letting baby get more sleep. I’ve never read any of the “cry it out” books, but just the science behind that method tells me it is not the method I want to use. Many of the books I’ve read talk of the importance of letting your infant know you will respond to their needs. As I learned from my reading, distressed crying in babies set of the hormone cortisol. When you respond to the baby by picking it up or attending to it’s needs, this cortisol is quickly turned off. However, letting the child continue to cry raises the level of cortisol higher and higher. In the long term, people who had high levels of this cortisol often suffer with anxiety, depression, and general oversensitivity to stress. After learning the scientific ramifications of crying it out, it just is not something I am willing to subject a child to.  Maybe I’ll change my mind later; I may end up being a big fat hypocrite.  Who knows…

Having said that, the no cry sleep solution gives parent’s a way to help sleep train their baby that is loving, nurturing, and safe. The book gives you one part for newborn babies up to four months, and another for babies four months to two years. Some of it was common sense but the part that made the book was the strategic plan to get more sleep. I really liked the way they approached the problem. First you audit the babies sleeping habits, make a few suggested changes, keep a log and then re-asses after ten days. They even provide you with a personal sleep plan worksheet. I am very happy I read this book and I feel like I will be well-armed when I do have a baby that won’t go to sleep

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The Science of Parenting

The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland had such good reviews on Amazon that I was really excited to begin reading. I expected it to be scientific and intelligent based on it’s title. However, I was really disappointed once I started reading.

The book is filled with pretty pictures and LARGE magazine style text. The actual content could probably fill 20 pages of a regular book instead of the 288 found here. I felt like the book was pre-digested and distilled down to be idiot-proof. I could be wrong, but I would think anyone reading a book on the science of parenting, and interested in raising intelligent children would not need this elementary school style book.

Yes, this book does discuss some of the important psychological studies that have been done in the field of child development. However, the book assumes you couldn’t possibly understand how this crazy scientific process works, so it glazes over some of the most interesting studies and dumbs them down to the point of dullness.

Overall I much preferred both Einstein Never Used Flash Cards and What’s going on in There, which talk about these interesting studies in much more depth. I must give a disclosure though- I do have a scientific background and I am insanely interested in the details, so it’s possible that someone just wanting the big picture summary might actually enjoy this book.

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Jo Frost’s Confident Baby Care: What You Need to Know for the First Year from America’s Most Trusted Nanny covers all the basics of taking care of a baby. I was quite pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

I have watched the show and am always amazed how great she is with kids and how fast she is able to turn around a family. Of course my husband reminds me that THIS IS A TV SHOW and there are probably out takes of her yelling at those damn bratty kids. But on TV she is always great, and Nanny Jo is comforting and reassuring even in her writing.

Since she seems so ridiculously perfect, you might expect her tone to be of the greater than thou tinge. And yet, she writes with a style that is very humble and helpful. She reminds you that “it’s okay” and that you will feel like you are at you’re wits end at time – but that it’s okay – breathe.

If you already have lots of experience with infants, this book may not be as helpful to you. However, I see an infant as a completely foreign alien creature and I have no idea how the little alien works. So I really needed a book like this. She teaches you how to swaddle, what to feed baby, how to calm baby, etc. Now I feel that I know a little more about this creature called baby.

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