How To Help Your Baby Get Great Sleep

I'm intrigued, but I need some more detail. Is what I'm looking for covered in this book?

The topics you can expect to learn about in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Dr. Weissbluth is very thorough.

1. Why Healthy Sleep Is So Important
   
   
2. Healthy Sleep and Sleep Strategies
   
   Healthy Sleep -- sleep duration, naps, sleep consolidation, sleep schedule, timing of sleep, sleep regularity, sleep positions, SIDS, the benefits of healthy sleep: sleep patterns, intelligence, learning and school performance.
   
   Sleep Strategies -- drowsy signs, soothing to sleep, resources for soothing, bedtime routines, breast-feeding versus bottle-feeding and family bed versus crib, breast-feeding the fussy baby, solid foods and feeding habits, solutions to help your child sleep better: "no cry," "maybe cry," or "let cry", prevention versus treatment of sleep problems, action plans for exhausted parents
   
   
   
3. Sleep Problems and Solutions -- disturbed sleep; sleep log; morning wake-up time is too early; morning nap is absent, too short, too long, or at the wrong time; afternoon nap is absent, too short, too long or at the wrong time; third nap is absent, too short, too long or at the wrong time; needs two but can get only one; needs a nap but refuses to nap; bedtime is too late: sometimes or always a battle; night waking, difficulty staying asleep; more than one child creates bedtime problems; unable to fall asleep; afraid of the dark or being alone; will not stay in his crib or bed; will not sleep anywhere else; only one bedroom; transition from family bed to crib; action plan for exhausted parents
   
   
4. Sleep, Extreme Fussiness/Colic and Temperament -- how to use this chapter; introduction, sleep and extreme fussiness/colic; temperament at four months; connecting sleep, extreme fussiness/colic and temperament; postcolic: preventing sleep problems after four months of age; summary and action plan for exhausted parents
   
   
5. Months One to Four
   
   Newborn: the first week
   Weeks two to four: more fussiness
   Weeks five to six: fussiness/crying peaks
   Weeks seven to eight: earlier bedtimes and longer night sleep periods develop
   Months three to four: extreme fussiness/colic ends; morning nap develops at 9:00 to 10:00 AM
   Preventing and solving sleep problems
   Action plan for exhausted parents
   
   
6. Months Five to Twelve
   
   Months five to eight: early afternoon nap develops at 12:00 to 2:00PM; variable Late afternoon nap at 3:00 to 5:00PM
   Month nine: late afternoon nap disappears; no more bottle-feeding at night
   Months ten to twelve: morning nap starts to disappear, but mostly two naps
   Preventing and solving sleep problems: months five to twelve
   Action plan for exhausted parents
   
   
7. Months Thirteen to Thirty-six
   
   Months thirteen to fifteen: one or two naps
   Months sixteen to twenty-one: morning nap disappears
   Months twenty-two to thirty-six: only a single afternoon nap
   Preventing and solving sleep problems
   Action plan for exhausted parents
   
   
8. Preschool Children
   
   Years three to six: naps disappear
   Preventing and solving sleep problems
   Action plan for exhausted parents
   
   
9. Schoolchildren and Adolescence
   
   Years seven to twelve: bedtime becomes later
   Adolescence: not enough time to sleep, especially in the morning
   Preventing and solving sleep problems
   
   
10. Special Sleep Problems -- sleepwalking, sleep talking, night terrors, nightmares, head banging and body rocking, bruxism, narcolepsy, poor-quality breathing (allergies and snoring), hyperactive behavior, seasonal affective disorder, bed-wetting
    
    
11. Special Events and Concerns -- changes with daylight savings time; new sibling; twins, triplets and more; moving; vacations and crossing time zones; frequent illnesses; mother's return to work, home office, dual-career families; adoption; injuries; overweight, exercise and diet; child abuse; atopic dermatitis and eczema
    
    
12. Competent Parents, Competent Child, by Karen Pierce, M.D.
    
    Self-esteem
    Good-enough parenting
    Development of internal controls
    Saying no helps your child
    My child has sleep problems. What do we do now?
    When other issues get in the way
    Summary
    
    
13. The Pros and Cons of Other Approaches to Sleep Problems
    
    Proper association with falling asleep (Richard Ferber's Theory)
    Unrestricted breast-feeding and the family bed (William Sears' Theory)
    Summary

Some of the Helpful Principles from the Book

Many people wrongly equate sleep training with 'cry it out'. Instead, Dr. Weissbluth teaches parents about learning your child's natural tendencies and guiding your child in forming even healthier sleep habits. Here's what I found most helpful from the book:

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iandeth/3155629157/

• 1If you start early with sleep training, you will be well along the path to preventing sleep problems. By early, I don't mean sleep-training a newborn. We waited until our daughter was around 4 months old.
• 2Respect a young baby's one to two-hour windows of wakefulness during the day. Don't push them to stay awake much longer.
• 3Watching your child for signs of sleepiness and starting to soothe to sleep before the end of her wakeful period. Watch your child more than your watch.
• 4Developing a consistent, calming bedtime routine. For us, it was a soothing bath for our daughter, a short book, then a lullaby.
• 5Respect your child's need to sleep. Try to be home during your child's usual naptimes to enable your child to have their nap on a regular basis. I let my daughter nap in the car sometimes, but I didn't make a habit of it. Having her associate her bed with sleep was helpful and then she didn't depend on motion to help her fall asleep.
• 6Keeping a sleep log (a general record of when your child is awake or asleep) is a tool help you spot patterns and trends in your child's sleeping if you think there may be a need for a change. It helps you schedule your day better too. :)
• 7Bedtimes between 6PM and 8PM tend to be the help children not develop sleep problems in the first place. It seems to me that there's lots of societal pressure for kids to have later bedtimes, but it's so much more helpful for your child to go to bed on the earlier end of things.
• 8You are guiding your child in an age-appropriate nap and bedtime schedule. As you are helping them develop this, your child initially may not cooperate by falling asleep immediately. Don't give up. My advice: go for progress, not perfection. Adults don't fall asleep immediately all the time either.
• 9Getting up too early may be caused by going to sleep too late. Early bedtimes often prolong night sleep and prevent early wake-ups. I've had so many people tell me to keep my daughter up later so she'll sleep later. It's never worked. Every time I try it, she wakes up at the same time or earlier.
• 10Sleep begets sleep. This is a true statement. Even though it's not logical, it's biological. I liked this quote, and it's pretty true.