A completely irrelated shelf with some of the baby/pregnancy books I have.
As I've written several times, we've been working on getting the little one to sleep better. In order to do that, I've read several books on sleep. Here is a little overview of what I've read and what I think about it. I'm ordering these books by which has been the most helpful one.
I'm a big fan of that Dutch book, because it provides a lot of information on sleep in general, explains the physiology behind and gives a concrete plan for all the baby months. It doesn't support letting the baby cry but is also pro of teaching them to learn to sleep on their own. It's inexpensive and can be lent from a local library.
What I maybe don't like? It seems that the wake time for baby from at 5-6 months might be a bit too short (1,5 h; I feel it's more like 1,75 h). Secondly, some of the sample schedules work with bedtime at 6 pm which is very difficult to do when (both of) the parents are working. Furthermore, it is focused on breastfed babies and provides little information on how to change the schedule for bottle-fed babies.
We've achieved some luck with this method, although we're still working on it.
I love the chapters up to the 5th month. The Soothing Ladder is a good way to soothe your baby but not too much and fade it out and allow them to fall asleep on their own. This is the method we use for soothing.
The problem for me is the approach from the 5 months onward (or even from 16 weeks), where a form of crying is used, namely the Sleep Wave. I'm not comfortable it, therefore we are not using it. It would be also very difficult to pursue when both of us were to train her as it requires saying one phase with the same intonation when you do the checks, but we speak different languages with her. There is also too little attention to wake times.
3. Dreamy Day Routines from Sweet Baby Dreams sleep coaching
Technically it's not a book but a booklet from a sleep coaching company. A good overview of scheduling a baby's sleep with the correct elements (sleep environment etc). I agree with all these parts.
The difficult part of this booklet is giving top-up feeds. I find it time-consuming (and wasn't possible when I triple-fed. We are doing top-up feeds now before the longer midday nap and the night-sleep but it's tricky to time it well.
I like this sleep coaching company's approach in general, I've listened to a lecture from their Estonian branch and talked with their consultant as well. I can for sure advise them!
This is actually the first sleep book I've ever read. It was advised to me by a friend when I was pregnant. Not much stuck, I need to say, and I needed to re-read it when we started dealing with sleep. Oh, silly me, I thought I was prepared, having read one book on sleep before having the baby...
I don't support letting the baby cry (at least at the moment) so I am on board with their general idea of supporting the baby learning to fall asleep. I like the form of stopping soothing on time and building it off.
What I didn't enjoy was the style of writing. It could have been the translation (I read it in Estonian) but it seemed a bit too informal and talking kid-language to parents. It is a slow approach and by reading it, requires the parent to be there at all times, which might be difficult. It is very breast-feeding focused. More advice on actually improving the sleep could be useful
5. Snuggles&Dreams guide for babies from 4 to 8 months
This is a Belgian sleep coaching company's booklet on baby's sleep. The Snuggles&Dreams method seems to be quite popular in Dutch/Flemish speaking communities. I liked their general information on what is important in sleep (environment, rituals etc), but yes, I already knew all of it as this was almost the last material I've read so far. It's very good that practical aspects of sleep training are discussed, such as older siblings, sleeping in the same room with the parent, early daycare.
This approach is heavily focussed on reducing feeds in general (might not benefit breastfeeding) and building off night feeds asap. I would love this (a full night of sleep!!!!) but I don't think that it is attainable in this age. Furthermore, they are very fond of getting rid of the pacifier after 3 months and I think that it is too early. Based on the materials I've read, 6 months should be more the approach. Another something I didn't like - controlled crying and the heavier forms of sleep training are advised (alongside to Pick Up/Put Down) method. Furthermore, I have a feeling that their advised wake times are a little too long (2 h for 4 months - she goes absolute peanuts with that time).
General points were good: routine, attention on feeding (it is all connected!). It supports not letting the baby cry.
Apart from these 2 good points, the author attempts too much - it's a thick book wanting to tell you about sleep, milk feeds, the introduction of solids, everything. Someone who wants to get the basics quickly would not want to read all of it. I learned virtually nothing new.
I read this book in Estonian and a couple of months ago, so I sadly can't remember any good points. It works with fixed schedules (I prefer wake times and a set bedtime and waking up time within 30 min limits) and with pumping breast milk. I would not be willing to do the latter ever again for something like this. It is possible to do it otherwise...
General thoughts are good (although a bit old-fashioned), supporting the routine and calmness.
But it had so much more that I didn't like... The general apporach to parenting for example: Mom feeding the baby and putting them to bed, Dad watching football with his friends in the livign room. Mom-shaming on everything, such as eating wrong ingredients for baby's sleep (so infrequently true!). A large section was dedicated on the importance of baby's sleep on the happy marriage. Who said everyone is married? And that there is a mom and a dad? Old-fashioned. I don't get how it had good reviews on Amazon.
One thing to say. Don't read this book. These were wasted hours. Just google the 5 S-s from Harvey Karp and you're good. This is a very-very repetitive book with so little substance. Don't read this book.
P.S. I'm reading The Sleepeasy Solution at the moment, and will add the comments on that here later.