Elizabeth Pantley sent me a copy of the “No Cry Sleep Solution” for toddlers and preschoolers for review and give-away on Nurshable.

Way back when I only had one child, I owned a copy of this book that eventually got lost in a move. It was one of the things that influenced my choice to “Wait it Out” with each of my children, and many of the strategies that Elizabeth outlines went on to become part of how I approach the question of “what can I do to promote healthy sleep while I wait for my child to be ready to be a better sleeper?”

This book is very much in line with my approach to sleep. It normalizes infant sleeping (or non-sleeping) behavior, identifies true “problems” that require solutions, and offers many different suggestions that can help mom and dad encourage healthy sleeping habits that will eventually result in sleep on a gentle child-led schedule.  It is one part reassurance and two parts proactive strategies for stretching out what your child is able to accomplish sleep-wise.

I’ll be reviewing this book in this space, but figured that a fun way to run the give-away would be to have people submit questions that they want the review to answer. One entry per question, in the order of the comments submitted. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and the book will be shipped out in about two weeks after the winning entry is chosen. (Since I will have to read the book in order to answer the questions and review it.)

 

 

S. Avatar

Published by

Categories:

41 responses to ““No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers” Review and Give-Away”

  1. Vacationland Mom Avatar

    My question is, how do you navigate gentle sleep changes with your toddler when your spouse feels differently than you do about the timetable?

    Like

  2. Rachel Walters Avatar
    Rachel Walters

    I’d love to win that book!

    Like

  3. Leanne R Avatar

    How do you help your child to go to sleep without “needing” to be rocked, but not forcing them out of it (wherein they scream)?

    Like

  4. beth Avatar
    beth

    How do you gently teach your young bed-sharing toddler that bed/nap time is non-negotiable? When we are in the bedroom for bed, we stay in the bedroom and annot be up running around.

    Like

  5. Rachel Avatar
    Rachel

    Any suggestions for helping a toddler nap better in a childcare environment when she nurses to sleep and cosleeps at home?

    Like

  6. Caragh Avatar
    Caragh

    How to encourage a 9 month old baby to drop the motn feeding (which I think is the only thing holding him back from sttn)?

    Like

  7. Katie Short Avatar
    Katie Short

    My first question is, when is it ok, if at all, to use a car ride to lull a purple-faced, I-don’t-want-go-to-sleep, I-don’t-care-what-time-you-have-to-get-up baby?
    Second, how do you convince a five year old that bedtime means staying in bed, not knocking on my bedroom door for ” one more drink”?

    Like

  8. Julie Avatar
    Julie

    How do you transition from nursing down for naps to not nursing him to sleep?

    Like

  9. Ali Hoot Avatar
    Ali Hoot

    My question is, how do you help a toddler “transition” at bedtime? I nurse my daughter before bed, and she’ll be (seemingly) fast asleep, but as soon as I begin to lower her into her crib, she pops awake and starts crying/fussing. So then we start all over, the whole process of soothing, before she finally gets to sleep. 😦

    Like

  10. Carol Avatar
    Carol

    How do you teach your baby (mine is 11mo) to go back to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night and don’t need to nurse to go back to sleep?
    By the way I love your blog and sometimes I translate your posts to portuguese so my sister can read 🙂

    Like

  11. Stacia Reichelt Avatar
    Stacia Reichelt

    My daughter is almost 2 and nurses to sleep for bed and naptimes – we cosleep for bed, and for naps she’s in my lap on the couch. Is it too late for her to nap on her own? How do we transition her to her own bed when it’s time?

    Like

  12. Katey Cunningham Avatar
    Katey Cunningham

    How do I get my 13 month old to sleep through the night? She nurses to sleep and wakes up throughout the night to nurse as well.

    Like

  13. Gina Macala Avatar
    Gina Macala

    Needs ways to get my lo to sleep without nursing, or at least things for DH or others to do in case I’m not able to nurse. DS is almost 13 months.

    Like

  14. Jenna Avatar
    Jenna

    First let me say that you continue to have impeccable timing for me. I am currently dealing with sleep “regression” with my 8 month old and this post and comments totally normalizes my experience.

    My question is: by nursing my son to sleep, and re-sleep (when he wakes in the middle of the night, am I setting him up to depend on me to be able to fall sleep in the future?

    Like

  15. Ashley Avatar
    Ashley

    Is this book practical in regards to the “Duracell bunny baby”?? Is it worth my (very little) time to read this if it really only applies to “average” babies. I know every baby is different, but you know about the Duracell bunny babies!! 🙂

    Like

  16. Brittany Avatar
    Brittany

    What about the wonderfully determined children that are sometimes known as “strong willed”? My daughter is incredibly loving and sensitive, but when she wants something or doesn’t want something she works very hard to get it. Like she won’t fall asleep with me in the room because she doesn’t get as much attention from me as she’d like with her brother around, even if I read or lay quietly for hours, but often doesn’t want to be left alone and will scream if left, even for me to pee. I also have an infant whose 7 months (she’s 27 months) who nurses at night and I often have to leave for to feed him. Daddy just doesn’t cut it a good part of the time, though sometimes we just have to send him in to love on her while she pushes him away for a time.

    Like

  17. Gamze Avatar
    Gamze

    Sarah,

    I don’t have a question that hasn’t been asked 🙂 so I will just say that this review is in great timing because my son is coming close to the toddler years and I want to be prepared if possible, armed with info if you will.
    I read her two previous books and althoigh I didn’t feel I had to work very hard to “train” him because I don’t like the idea plus he always seems to find his way to better sleep so I just have to watch and learn from him, I found them “gentle” which is what I liked most about her approach. That she said if I was fine rocking him to sleep I should feel free to do so instead of feeling I have to stop because eventually he would be able to sleep on his own, they all do.
    Can’t wait to see what you thik of it.

    Like

  18. Lissette Avatar
    Lissette

    How do you navigate a gentle approach when your spouse feels its fine to CIO? I’m not a CIO parent but DH thinks its necessary to for our son (2y) to “learn”. We’ve had many of battles on this & still don’t see eye to eye. We also have a 3m old so we are about to go thru all of the same arguments.

    Like

  19. jillian Avatar
    jillian

    My daughter is going to be 12 mths next week. She was a fantastic sleeper until 7 mths, had a sleep regression and never came back from it. Her sleep is so inconsistent, I never know what the night will bring. We co-sleep because that seemed to be the only way I could get a bit of sleep. Once in a while she will sleep a long stretch of 7 hrs but most of the time I’m up every hour rocking/singing/laying beside her getting her back to sleep. She falls back asleep within munutes. I keep hoping this will gradually diminish but I’m starting to loose hope. I know she can sleep long stretches and I know that I am consistent in my approach with her. I keep saying I will WIO with her…. I’m just so exhausted.

    Like

  20. Katie Avatar
    Katie

    Are early wake ups a normal phase for almost 2-yr-olds? It is there a potential issue that we can address to stop them? My son often wakes at 4 or 5 am, upset. His normal bedtime is 7-7:30, and It’s actually worse/more likely if we out him down late. Sometimes we get him back to sleep (let him have milk & cuddle with us, read a book if necessary, I’ve also tried water or a banana in case it’s thirst or hunger) but if he gets too upset or too excited that’s it, he is up for the day. He naps 1-3 everyday and clearly still needs that nap. Thoughts or suggestions?

    Thanks!!

    Like

  21. Katie Avatar
    Katie

    I’ll add that he doesn’t do it every day, and he sleeps most of the night most of the time (sometimes wakes up but goes right back to sleep if we go lie down with him). He has been on a regular mattress on the floor since he was 1, and we recently transitioned to a twin bed. The transition was smooth, his patterns haven’t changed and if anything he sleeps a little better in the new bed. I consider anything after 6 am an acceptable wake up time (ideal would be 6:30 or 7, depending on what time he got to sleep and whether his sleep was interrupted during the night).

    Like

  22. erin Avatar
    erin

    I need help on getting my almost 6 yr old and 4.5 yr old to stay the whole night in their bed

    They start out there and sometimes stay there but 90% of the time wind up in our bed

    My husband doesnt usually get home till afyer 11 and usually sleeps on the couch because of this

    Like

  23. erin Avatar
    erin

    How and when can I get my 18 month old to sleep in his own bed?
    He has bedshared with us since day 1

    Like

  24. erin Avatar
    erin

    Is it normal for an 18 month old to wake up at the crack of dawn?

    Like

  25. Dita Avatar
    Dita

    My 10 month old still wakes to nurse 3x a night. I nurse on demand throughout the day, we do solids 3x a day with lots of protein to stay fuller, longer, at dinner. When trying to get her to drop a feeding, she just cries as I rock her (husband travels often). I’ve tried rocking, holding and walking, belly rubs in the crib and every time, she’ll cry for a few minutes and then be quiet for 1-2 minutes. Then cry for a few minutes and then is quiet for a few minutes. This can go on for over an hour and a half. Before i can’t take it anymore and I just nurse her and then she sleeps. And I can’t shorten the nursing as she will go to sleep but then wake up for more milk within an hour. How do I get her to go from her usual 3 nursings a night to 1 or 2?

    Like

  26. erin Avatar
    erin

    My 4.5 yr old still wakes 1-2 times a night
    Is this normal? How can I get her to stop?

    Like

  27. erin Avatar
    erin

    My 18 month old is still nursing. …still nurses through the night
    Is there a gentle way to night wean him so we all get more sleep?

    Like

  28. Katy Avatar

    My question has already been sort of asked–I’m interested in teaching my older son to fall back asleep without “needing” to be rocked. What strategies can help him learn to return to sleep on his own?

    Like

  29. Michelle M Avatar
    Michelle M

    How do you break the breastfeeding sleep association with an 18month old? He still bf’s in order to fall asleep and uses this to fall back asleep when he wakes during the night. I haven’t slept through the night in 18 months! And I work full-time! He is very attached to breastfeeding. Please help me before I lose my job (it’s hard to work efficiently when you lack sleep). Thanks!

    Like

  30. Rebecca S Avatar

    What are normal sleep patterns for nursing/cosleeping 1,2,3,4,5 year olds?

    Like

  31. Simone Avatar
    Simone

    Does the book outline benefits of using its techniques &/or reasons NOT to do CIO?

    Like

  32. Chapel Avatar

    I would love to win that book! I liked the one for babies and I would love to look at the one for toddlers. The advice didn’t really pan out for us, but I would take some new suggestions. Question: How do you convince a baby to sleep in a side-carred crib?

    Like

  33. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    My question is, at what point do I really need to start “putting my baby to sleep” when just holding her or nursing her to sleep and then holding her is somuch easier at this point?

    Like

  34. Dee Avatar
    Dee

    My bubba is still not yet three months old, but these are all “what if” questions that I have floating around in my head for how things may pan out for us based on what I’m doing now – ie EBF, nursing for naps and sleep time, having nap time in my arms or lap… So looking forward to reading all the replies!

    Sarah, you are a good woman for deciding on running the comp like this – you have quite a task on your hands, so thank you again for “looking after” us, your fans 🙂

    Like

  35. Erika Avatar
    Erika

    How do you figure out when to put a toddler to bed? My 33 month old naps 2 hours at daycare, but doesn’t fall asleep until 9-ish, and must wake up at 6. She wakes up cranky and I seem to remember from the first NCSS book that it means she is not getting enough sleep- but I can’t get her to bed before 9pm!

    Like

  36. Natalie Avatar
    Natalie

    I would like to know how you help a super hyper active baby sleep better.

    Like

  37. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    Does napping in a moving pram / car seat / sling provide the same quality of sleep as if baby is at home sleeping in their cot?

    Like

  38. sunshine Avatar
    sunshine

    It seems that after my DD is sick (which has been almost all of the last 2 months)it throws her sleep schedule out of whack again, and takes us about 2 weeks to get it back to ‘normal’. Are there any hints so the transition to ‘normal’ can be a little faster.
    BTW, just found your blog, and I’m quite enjoying it, thank you.

    Like

  39. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Not sure what I’d like to know, but as my daughter hates naps at 8 months, I expect she will continue to hate them. So naps then: how, where, how long?

    Like

  40. Dee Avatar
    Dee

    Oh, I have thought of a question! Will babies learn to consolidate sleep cycles on their own, without parental help – especially during naps. I find my little one can continue to sleep through her cycles when I’m holding her because I sooth her when she stirs (as I’m sure others will find). But when I put her down I often just miss her coming out of a sleep cycle and so miss the opportunity to help ‘get her through one cycle to the nnect’. Will she learn to do this on her own as she develops and as her physiological system matures (she is now three moths old).

    Like

  41. Dee Avatar
    Dee

    Oh, I forgot to add… Will she learn to consolidate these naps “naturally” if I continue to nap with her, hold her while she naps etc, or am I, in fact, impeding her natural development of consolidating her naps if I continue to sleep with/hold her during naps – am I interfering too much?

    Like

Leave a comment