Helping Your Baby to Sleep, 2nd edition

Update December 2011: now available on the iBookstore: http://itunes.apple.com/au/book/helping-your-baby-to-sleep/id481628929?mt=11

In this updated edition of their acclaimed "Helping Your Baby to Sleep", child development specialists (and mothers) Anni Gethin and Beth Macgregor have created the most sought-after resource for new parents: a guide to understanding what babies need from their parents in order to help them to sleep.

They discuss what is normal and what is not, enabling parents to feel more confident about the decisions they make for their baby. The authors also present important new research into babies’ emotional and brain development, and describe techniques that take into account a baby’s individual sleep habits. Additionally they discuss numerous ‘sleep problems’ incorporating tried-and-tested advice from parents, as well as health professionals.

The authors oppose sleep-training techniques, stating that the ‘controlled crying’ approach creates stress for the baby with which they are ill-prepared to cope, and can also interrupt the bonding that occurs between parent and child. Examining the latest scientific research, they demonstrate how sleep training is detrimental for babies and can have serious long-term effects on a child’s neurological and emotional development.

In this valuable guide, readers will:

• Learn why babies wake at night and need help to settle

• Understand how early parenting choices affect a baby’s growing brain

• Examine why ‘sleep training’ is risky

• Discover babies individual sleep needs

• Explore solutions to common baby sleep problems and

• Find out how tired parents can create an essential support system!

 ‘This is a beautiful book, rich with empathy for babies and parents, and also practical and down to earth.’ – Sheila Kitzinger, author of "Understanding Your Crying Baby".

‘I can’t imagine any parent reading this informed, wise and powerfully argued book,and ever wanting to use controlled crying again.’ – Steve Biddulph, author of "Raising Boys".

‘Anni and Beth … unapologetically advocate for the baby’s wellbeing while also acknowledging parents’ very real needs for support.’ – Pinky McKay, author of "Sleeping Like a Baby".

‘At last – an antidote to the current vogue for leaving babies to cry! Many parents have felt intuitively that this cannot be the way to deal with their infants but too often they are encouraged to ignore their feelings and to ignore baby’s distress signals as well.’ – Prof. Carolyn Quadrio, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales