The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep from Birth to Age 5

We put off "sleep training" for too long, assuming it would be so much worse than it actually was. My husband and I and our 10 month old finally hit the braking point--we were all continually exhausted from the night time wake-ups and it was impacting each of us in different ways. We followed the plan in this book exactly and in just two nights our daughter was sleeping through the night with no tears. Highly recommend this helpful book. We didn't read it in its entirety, but skipped ahead to the chapters on creating the sleep plan--a feature specifically created for exhausted parents who need to get started ASAP. I found it very helpful that we were able to still use their methodology without reading the whole book first.

A lifesaver for our family! I was so skeptical of sleep training in general but by night 2 our LO was sleeping through the night and staying in his crib/sleeping to a reasonable time in the morning (6, not 3 or 4) and by day 3 he was napping better than ever...all in his crib and putting himself to sleep! He's now getting so much more sleep (and so are we). My only regret is that we did not do this sooner!

Literally life changing, my daughter was in the midst of a major sleep regression at 4.5 months. She was walking up 4-6 times a night. I followed this book explicitly and got her on a day nap schedule too. Within 5 days she was taking about 4 hours worth of naps each day and sleeping from 8pm to either 6:30am/7am! Can’t say enough fantastic things about this book!

Great book with lots of helpful ideas. Our baby has so much natural, healthy energy, as well as so alert, social and happy, that the last thing he wants to do is go to sleep and miss out on whatever is going on. Thankfully the book provides helpful routine ideas that can help a child go into the sleep pattern more easily.

This method is phenomenal! Because it works! I've seen it personally change a whole household from tears to smiles, for both child and parents! I'm a professional Nanny, and I speak from over 40 years of experience and training. Get it and do what it outlines....and then after it works ( which it will) pass the book on to other tired frustrated parents!!

This book is truly a life-changing, life-saving item! Our daughter has reflux and had to be held upright after feedings and before bed for the first several months of life. This resulted in her requiring feeding, holding, rocking, and bouncing to go to sleep every night! She was still only sleeping 3-4 hours at a time at 4 months old. It also meant only napping if she was held! It became exhausting and impractical. We were desperate for a solution, and this book was the answer!! I am breast feeding, and this book gives you very clear advice and instructions on how and when it is safe to wean night feedings. I've read other books, and none are as encouraging as this one for nursing mothers. It gives very clear, positive advice on how to teach your baby "self-soothing" without allowing them to cry for hours. It does involve some tears, but it is tolerable and SO worth it. My baby is not traumatized at all. She is happier, eats and naps more consistently, and seems healthier overall! Within 3-5 days she was sleeping through the night, and within 7-10 days, she was completely weaned off night feedings and sleeping 11-12 hours without making a peep! Just a note...We started this at age 4.5 months. Based on the instructions, I wouldn't read this book any sooner than age 4 months. Our babe is just over 5 months now, and our lives are all much better :)

This book literally saved our lives. After implementing the Sleep Easy Solution our 10 month old was sleeping through the night in 5 nights. After night 1 he was able to put himself to sleep with minimal crying. It was like a miracle...the sleep deprivation had really taken a toll on us. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their baby’s sleep habits. I only wish we read it sooner!

I read Ferber, Weissbluth, Mayim Bialik, Baby411, No Cry Sleep Solution... we'd accidentally become a co-sleeping family, and honestly, it was awesome and wonderful months 4-6. It got a little harder with each month after that until 9 months when my son would not fall asleep even after the night time routine, nursing, and rocking. I started to spend literal HOURS each day and night laying down with him and trying to get him to sleep only to have him crawling over my body and laughing while playing in the bed. I was missing workouts, showers, and starting to resent him - and THAT is the worst thing for your baby, not "sleep learning". I appreciated this book's minimal jargon, large print, easy table of contents, and the authors' sympathy toward parents who are desperate but of course not trying to be cruel. Within four days (nights were fast and easy, but naps were harder - and now awesome) we were all a happier family. I once again had nights to spend with my husband, structure to my day including play time with my baby, and sleep.

I have never written a book review on the store. But after 8 days of using the methods in Sleep Easy Solution, I felt motivated to write to share with other parents how well it worked. After months of fighting sleep, crying and waking 6+ times per night, and demanding Mommy to nurse all night long until he was totally asleep--our little guy actually went to bed by himself with a BIG smile on his and absolutely NO crying or fussing.

I am a firm believer in attachment parenting, I was afraid to try any method that involved any crying. Using this method my baby never cried more than 20 minutes total, and within 5 days he was sleeping through the night peacefully.

My baby boy is a little over 9 months old, he had colic the first three months, barely sleeping because of the discomfort and crying incessantly, around 3 months the colic subsided and he started to sleep a little better waking about 3-4 times per night, around 6 months he started teething /crawling and sleep got worse waking 6+ times per night and crying sometimes for 1 hr + while squirming in my arms / crib. Reading lots of Dr Sears, I had tried various no-cry methods for 6 months patiently trying gently to help my baby sleep (laying on of hands, de-latching from the breast, etc). None of these methods seemed to be helping him sleep any better, and I was starting to see signs of sleep deprivation in my baby (not just my husband and I).

With the methods outlined in Sleep Easy solution, I gave my baby a little bit of supported space to learn how to self sooth and sleep on his own. Now he is proud of his new skill, and our whole family is no longer sleep deprived. I highly recommend this book!

My husband and I were becoming desperate parents getting our baby to go asleep and stay asleep. It would first take about an hour for us to get our son to sleep, who would then only sleep for about 45 minutes which would then require one of us to go back in the room to rock, bounce, pat, sing, etc. to try to get him back asleep. Sometimes we would work SO hard, think he was asleep, lay him down, and he would immediately open his eyes like - "HAHA just kidding!" I am a nursing mother so I would just give in and allow him to nurse up to 30-45 minutes basically being a human pacifier. I remember literally being in his room for THREE HOURS trying to get him to sleep - I was beyond frustrated. I felt like I had no life or schedule that would allow some desperately needed "me-time".

We started this book the week he turned 4 months. We spent several days really making sure we were on the same page with the routine we were going to create for him, got him a "lovey" to cuddle with, and just really preparing ourselves. We knew it would be tough because our son was so dependent on us. The hardest part the first night was not allowing him to fall asleep nursing like he was so used to doing. To assist with this, after bathing I only dressed him in his diaper which would keep him from being nice and cozy in his sleeper. If I couldn't keep him awake by tickling his feet or talking to him, I would put a diaper wipe briefly on the back of his neck and he would pop his eyes open (I only had to do this a few nights). After I was finished with his routine, I laid him down and prepared myself for the worst. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - 45 minutes. We did our check ins but honestly they seemed to almost make it worse. After night 1, I immediately began check ins starting at 15 minute intervals - not 5 minutes. The worst night was actually night 3 - he cried for 1 hr 10 minutes. I felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I was crying and I really had to lean on my husband for support because I felt like the worst person alive. Our son did awesome with naps - although the book warns against naps being a lot harder to train. Yes, we had a few rough naps but overall he caught on very quickly. He no longer cried after when we would initially lay him down after about 5 nights. I would watch him on the video monitor and he wouldn't necessarily go to sleep right away but would just lay there and seemed to almost be relaxing and unwinding. We only had to check in during the middle of the night maybe 3x.

We've been doing this for 4 weeks now and I can't speak enough praise about this program. Our son went from sleeping maybe 11 broken hours throughout the day to 12 hours straight - just at night alone. He also takes a solid 2-3 naps a day. He loves going to his crib. I honestly thought people were kidding when they said they would lay their baby down, their baby would smile at them, and then go to sleep. But yet this is what happens to me now! If you have any doubts whatsoever, or if you feel you are at your wits end, get this book - help is here!!!

My husband and I were becoming desperate parents getting our baby to go asleep and stay asleep. It would first take about an hour for us to get our son to sleep, who would then only sleep for about 45 minutes which would then require one of us to go back in the room to rock, bounce, pat, sing, etc. to try to get him back asleep. Sometimes we would work SO hard, think he was asleep, lay him down, and he would immediately open his eyes like - "HAHA just kidding!" I am a nursing mother so I would just give in and allow him to nurse up to 30-45 minutes basically being a human pacifier. I remember literally being in his room for THREE HOURS trying to get him to sleep - I was beyond frustrated. I felt like I had no life or schedule that would allow some desperately needed "me-time".

We started this book the week he turned 4 months. We spent several days really making sure we were on the same page with the routine we were going to create for him, got him a "lovey" to cuddle with, and just really preparing ourselves. We knew it would be tough because our son was so dependent on us. The hardest part the first night was not allowing him to fall asleep nursing like he was so used to doing. To assist with this, after bathing I only dressed him in his diaper which would keep him from being nice and cozy in his sleeper. If I couldn't keep him awake by tickling his feet or talking to him, I would put a diaper wipe briefly on the back of his neck and he would pop his eyes open (I only had to do this a few nights). After I was finished with his routine, I laid him down and prepared myself for the worst. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - 45 minutes. We did our check ins but honestly they seemed to almost make it worse. After night 1, I immediately began check ins starting at 15 minute intervals - not 5 minutes. The worst night was actually night 3 - he cried for 1 hr 10 minutes. I felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I was crying and I really had to lean on my husband for support because I felt like the worst person alive. Our son did awesome with naps - although the book warns against naps being a lot harder to train. Yes, we had a few rough naps but overall he caught on very quickly. He no longer cried after when we would initially lay him down after about 5 nights. I would watch him on the video monitor and he wouldn't necessarily go to sleep right away but would just lay there and seemed to almost be relaxing and unwinding. We only had to check in during the middle of the night maybe 3x.

We've been doing this for 4 weeks now and I can't speak enough praise about this program. Our son went from sleeping maybe 11 broken hours throughout the day to 12 hours straight - just at night alone. He also takes a solid 2-3 naps a day. He loves going to his crib. I honestly thought people were kidding when they said they would lay their baby down, their baby would smile at them, and then go to sleep. But yet this is what happens to me now! If you have any doubts whatsoever, or if you feel you are at your wits end, get this book - help is here!!!

Love it, used it, given it to people, recommended it to others. This plan worked very well for us and our baby. I know everyone is different but we were consistent and within 4 nights our 5 month old when down easily and after another month we were able to night wean with no fuss (we did it backward.) Naps took a little longer but we have a champion sleeper these days. Sleepy Planet for the win.

This program works - and the instructions are very detailed and specific, with well organized chapters and instructions. I understood the theory but, until reading this book, kept messing up the execution. So...almost two years in, I finally found this book. I send it to all the new moms I know.

Works with TWINS!

I have Twin boys (5 months 18lbs and 16lbs). I waited until they were 5 months as their adjusted age is 4 months since they were born early but healthy. I also frankly enjoyed going in at night on some level to feed them (bottle) and kiss them. The boys are in the same room, but each have their own bed. We were getting up 3-5 times a night because of feeding and/or soothing them back to sleep. Early on they were on the same schedule and we were not up as often as we would feed them both even if one woke up. Then as they got older, I would feed whoever woke hoping this was the night the other would sleep through. Nope! Around 3 months I kept HOPING they would sleep through the night on their own so I wouldn't wake the other one when I went in to feed at night. We also introduced food at 4 months thinking this would help them sleep at night... Nope! Tried the old cereal in the bottle at their 10p dream feed... Nope!

Hope is NOT a plan.

I had read the book a few months earlier and decided it was time. I re-read the important chapters, went to the website and printed the weaning schedule. IT REALLY WORKS.

Night 2 and 3 were the hardest, going in when one woke 5 minutes then 10 then 15 until they went back to sleep a few times during the night as they adjusted to their new routine. It's hard to watch your babies be frustrated but I continued the process because great sleep has been scientifically proven to help them in so many ways! They have always been great boys but they are now SO happy during the day. It also gives my husband and I time to connect and spend time together in the evening and not be exhausted.

Also this book unlike others gives a CLEAR plan, lays it out. It tells you for example what a bedtime routine is. I am a first time mom and heard other books talk about the "routine" but was only guessing at what it was. Also this book gives you sample schedules for weaning either breast fed or bottle fed babies, this is super helpful for them to lay it out in black and white when one is operating on very little sleep! You can adjust it to your schedule too.
Forever Grateful!

I highly recommend this program!

It is amazing how much my boys eat during the day now! It did take us all 5 nights but by the 5th night one slept from 6:30p to 4:00a (we got this twin up at 5:30a after he put himself back to sleep!) and the other from 6:30p to 6a.

Let's be real: this is essentially the Ferber method, and if you don't like the idea of letting your baby cry it out, don't buy this book. They call it limited crying, but based on their method, your baby could be crying for hours. To be fair, they had a lot of good advice about when NOT to sleep train (i.e. during big changes in the baby's life, developmental milestones, teething, etc) but I feel that they made their approach seem much gentler than it actually is. It's not cry it out in the sense that you literally shut the door, let them cry, and don't go back in until morning, but it's still a lot of crying, and it was brutal for us so by day 2 we gave up.

This book was a lifesaver!!! I was rocking my son every night until he was 10 months old. Then I seen this book on a news segment and thought what the heck. I love that it has everything I need in it and I can go back to and refer to it! It is a must have!!!

I have been buying products from the store for 8 years now, and have never taken the time to review any product I've bought. I had to write a review for this because even though I only received, read, and implemented this book 48 hours ago, I've already seen a VAST improvement.

My daughter is almost 9 months old, and from the time she was 4.5 months to 2 days ago, she'd wake up about 2, sometimes 3 times a night. I usually would nurse her since that was what was easiest, even if she wasn't hungry. I didn't know she wasn't hungry, I just knew that it was a surefire way to stop her crying and soothe her to sleep. But I was exhausted and needed to get more than a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time.

Like others have noted, the thing that sets this book apart from the rest is the comforting tone and way it rationalizes all of its methods. I've read Weissbluth, but could barely navigate my way around its verbose research! And the authors even suggest that if you need solutions NOW, to skip to Chapters 2 & 3, and read the rest later.The layout is so much easier and straightforward, exactly what an exhausted parent who doesn't have time to gingerly read dozens of case studies needs.

My daughter, who never seemed to be able to put herself to sleep without nursing or at least a pacifier, can now do so with minimal crying. THe first night was the worst-- 50 minutes of on and off crying/fussing. But what was different than trying CIO previously was while she was crying, I read Chapter 4 about why babies need to cry. And it all made sense, and made listening to her cry easier in the sense that I knew I had to let this happen. Before, I was so heartbroken and not educated enough to understand why this had to be, since it seemed to go against human nature.

Last night she was asleep within 10 minutes. 10 MINUTES. that's an improvement. And with naps, it's taken her even less. 2-3 min tops. The rate we're going, I'm hoping that within another 2 days, crying is a non-issue.

If your kid is having any type of sleep trouble, PLEASE, buy this book. I feel like I've read and researched them all, and this is hands down the most valuable book I've purchased since being pregnant. My only regret is that I hadn't bought this 5 months ago!

Excellent book, gives you lots of tips to improve our sleeping experience. We had some issues with our baby girl and we were able to fix them after reading the book. Thank you so much for sharing Jill and Jennifer all this knowledge. It took 2 nights only to have our baby sleeping better.

My son was a pretty good night sleeper but needed me to shoosh and rock him to sleep during the day..this became very tiring as he got bigger. Then at a round 4 months he started waking every couple of hours through the night. I tried EVERYTHING! But we both continued to wake up tired and grumpy in the morning..I was exhustated!

Then I read this book, and followed it exactly. The first night was no where near as bad as I expected, and every night since then my son has slept 10-13hrs! He now settles himself off to sleep during the day and is beginning to take longer naps. We finally have a bit of routine to our day and are both waking up well rested and happy! What a relief :)

My 3 month old has never napped by himself, since day one he would wake up if you put him down. So this was a vicious cycle that just continued on for months, getting worse. He would only nap if he rocked, and then he would only sometimes stay asleep for 30 minutes. This book is the "gentle" cry it out method. Simple as that. There are a few basic ideas that they set you up with (darkening the room, white noise machine), but the program consists of putting your child down for sleep, if he/she fusses check in on them in 5 minutes, talk to them (don't touch them) and then leave the room. If they are still fussing within 10 minutes, do the same thing. THIS PROGRAM IS VERY DO-ABLE! I struggled emotionally with letting my son cry, but I know, after 6 days, he is falling asleep on his own within 10 minutes and sleeping for at least 40 minutes at the minimum.

The sleepeasy solution worked for us, and now everyone--baby, wife and myself--can actually get some rest. This was long overdue, though it has to wait until your baby is at least 5 months old and at least x number of pounds (see book for reference).

Here's one key insight on how to read and then do the solution. The book is written to sound like a strict set of instructions, but it's actually not. As you read on, you find out that the authors are ok with modifications to the method. For example, I wanted to touch the baby when I did a check-in. It still worked. What matters is consistency.

All that said, the book worked. Simply that. What more could you ask for?

After 11 months of not having had more than about 4 non-consecutive hours of sleep, I was so desperate for a way to make a change. The sleep depravation was debilitating and impacted every facet of my life. I felt almost ill from the long-term exhaustion and still plowing through the busy days with no rest. Our son had yet to sleep through the night at 11 months and was often up 5 or more times overnight. I would either nurse him to sleep, he would end up in our bed, I would walk around with him, bounce him and my husband and I even resorted to pushing him around our house in the stroller - just to sleep. He hated sleeping in his crib and all of his naps were short. It felt like we spend more time trying to get him to fall asleep than he actually slept! He had also begun waking up for the day at 4:15 a.m.

I had purchased the Ferber book and the Weissbluth book, and on a few occasions, we tried implementing a schedule and the cry it out method (ferber) for bedtime. It didn't really seem to work and the crying was so difficult for me to handle. I wanted to be nurturing and loving, when he would cry. We almost always had set backs with the process as well - teething, colds etc and felt like we'd be back at square one. The Sleepeasy book and DVD are amazing, simple and well written - you can actually read it despite being bleary eyed and tired. It really makes you feel like you have a solid plan on how to proceed with a bedtime routine and the various changes you need to make. We began on New Years Day and the first night our son cried for 13 minutes. The second night, 5 minutes and less each night following. I also used their weaning schedule for night feedings. He now goes down to bed between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and many nights doesn't cry at all. We still have a few nights when he cries, but never for more than 5 minutes or so.

Also, he has a really predictable day time schedule, which we never had before and takes 2 age appropriate naps. He is still an early riser, and we are working on that but our situation has improved so dramatically in such a short period of time. This process has really changed our lives. My husband and I now have a chance to spend time together in the evenings and it has given me a much needed break so I can have some time to rest.

This book is such a bargain. We were ready to hire a sleep consultant to work with us for $600+, all we really needed was this book and about a week to iron things out. I can't say enough about it and how much it has helped us.

This is the best sleep training book! We were able to sleep train our toddler in about three days. I really enjoy that they break down the sleep process scientifically and really go in depth about how bad sleep habits affect the family as a whole. Overall great book, so glad I read it and so happy with how our toddler is sleeping now!

My son stopped sleeping through the night at about 10 months of age. He'd wake up, need his pacifier, go back to sleep. Then the wakings became more frequent. Then he wouldn't go to sleep unless I stayed with him until he fell asleep. Then he wouldn't sleep unless he was on me. This went on for five months. Toward the end, I'd spend all night trying to get him to go to sleep, and all day trying to get him to take a nap. I couldn't make plans of any kind because I was always so hopeful he'd be taking a nap. He was fussy, clumsy, crying all the time. He was sleep deprived and unhappy. So was I. Throughout this time, I'd tried many different methods and techniques to try and get my son to sleep. I felt as if I'd tried everything and I was really at my wits end!... Then I came across The Sleepeasy Solution. This approach is truly gentle and incorporates modifying the child's sleep environment in conjunction with checking in on him/her at specified intervals.
My success was this: After the first night of implementing The Sleepeasy Solution, my son has slept 12 hours (straight through) every night, and two 1 1/2 hour naps per day for the last sixteen days!!!! It is a miracle. The program worked when I thought nothing would. I am so grateful to the developers of this program. I have already recommended it to several family members and friends. I feel like a new mommy and my son is happy and energetic every day. He is learning much more quickly, doesn't fuss, and actually likes to go to sleep in his crib now. He smiles as I lay him down.
Just because you are a new parent, doesn't mean you or your child have to be up all night or sleep deprived. I highly recommend this book.

We put off sleep training for months because we were worried that our son would have a really hard time with it and he always seemed to have a cold or be acutely teething or something. We endured months of what I began to call sleep torture. When we finally did it, we used this book our 6 month old who had been waking us up 6,7,8 or 9 times a night cried for a total of 22 minutes (including check-ins) and never woke up at night again. Learning to put himself to sleep seemed to make everything fall into place and his naps became more reliable. We've now used this system twice (it worked great with our now almost 5 year old who also sleeps like a champ) and I highly recommend it!

My daughter has been a horrible sleeper since she was about 2 months old. I wound up cosleeping with her and nursing her back to sleep as many as 5-6 times during the night. At 8 months we used the Sleepeasy Solution, and within about 4 nights she wasn't crying at all when we put her in her crib at bed time, and she's now taking 2 1-1.5 hour naps per day compared to sleeping only 30 minutes to an hour all day previously. Obviously we're thrilled and now we're all getting the sleep we need!

I was desperate to sleep and bought this book. It has great ideas and I think works. When I originally bought the book, I was living in a hotel due to a move and a lot of changes were going on in our lives. Now we live in our new home and we are in a routine. This has helped a lot. Our baby has his own schedule so I have had to wait until he was past 6 months old and all the changes have settled down. During growth spurts they will need to feed at night, so it's good to be a little flexible until you know that they can make it thru the night.

Original review wrote in April 2008.
Update July 2008.
IT WORKS - I waited until we were settled and he was eating some solids. This book WORKED to the day. I am still amazed. The first night he was suppose to sleep without waking/crying he did and has been ever since. I am now able to sleep..... He does wake occasionally (once a night, if I hear it) and makes a noise but goes right back to sleep on his own now. YES !!
He was and still is a happy baby, so this technique did not change his disposition.

This book changed our lives! On the brink of emotional breakdown and insanity from sleep deprivation, we tried this book. Our baby now sleep through the night without a peep. This book offers sounds advice to harried parents who need a break from their babies. After both of us read it in entirety, we consulted it nightly when we needed extra support during the sleep learning. What a world of difference it has made! This book offers advice on night weaning, eating out of habit during the night, tackling those daytime naps, when to know when your child should be getting tired and many other pitfalls that new parents famously fall in. Now all three of us are happier and well-rested. Two cons: this book doesn't seem to understand breastfeeding and offer some advice that is just not true. Also, it's advice on how to get your baby to nap at daycare is lacking and could use some expanding. Not all daycare providers can provide a "nap routine" (quiet play, book, etc.), a dark and quiet room for naps. It just doesn't happen!

Awesome awesome awesome! This worked perfectly for our 4-month-old, who is now sleeping 11 hours at night. I wouldn't recommend any other sleep book over this to my friends, although others contain more info on the science of sleep....GET THIS if you want to cut to the chase and start getting some sleep once the newborn stage is over!

This book is absolutely amazing. I was skeptical because I had tried a couple different sleep methods and it had celebrities reviewing it. However I bought it anyway cause I needed to try something else to get my baby to sleep. Best purchase I ever made. My baby started sleeping through the night at night 3 and became so easy to put down. MIRACLE!

A friend of mine recommended this book to me. She used it for her child and it worked quickly. Husband and I were at our wits end. While other friends babies were sleeping through for months, our son slept through at 6 months, then once he started crawling and cruising, he started waking up to 4x per night for two months. This was tough for our family and I wanted to wait a little longer to ST but we needed it sooner. This book worked in 4 days. FOUR DAYS. The first night was tough for me emotionally, but by the third night he had cut his time from 26 min to 13 min and the 4th night he didn't cry at all and put himself to sleep. We had an extinction burst on the third night but as noted in the book, we stayed consistent and he went back to sleeping through.
I really appreciated how gentle the authors were, how flexible the plans can be (we haven't ST for naps yet) and the troubleshooting appendix. They really thought of everything. I want to basically shout from the rooftops about how awesome this is. My son was getting 9 hours of broken sleep every night before this book and now sleeps around 11-11.5 hrs each night. I wish I could hug and kiss the authors!!

While it works like a freaking charm for bedtimes it's not as clear for naps. But naps are a beast for any baby probably and we started exactly at 4 months so my baby might "get" naps later on. But she was upset for the first day (45 minutes) but little by little she got less and less and now she goes right down with no fuss. It's great! And I plan to start night weaning at 5 months!

This book was very helpful for me. This Book explains why children need to learn to fall asleep on their own and why this method is the one the authors believe is the most effective. This method seems similar to ferber. I like that this book is a quick read and has helpful pointers for this process. I also was glad that the book addressed the emotional components to sleep training and dealing with lack of sleep. Although sleep training my one year old was very difficult within a week of using this program he feel asleep on his own beautifully.