The Baby Sleep Solution: A Proven Program to Teach Your Baby to Sleep Twelve Hours aNight

It worked for me with some tweaks. I started my son’s sleep training boot camp at 2 1/2 months and it took about 3 weeks for him to sleep the 12 hrs (sometimes 13hrs!). He’s 4months old now and I haven’t had any issues since we finished training. My tweaks: I’m breastfeeding and have a fussy baby, so the 4hr stretch didn’t work. It was possible to accomplish, but I didn’t find it worth continuing when my baby was grumpy all the time. So I feed him every 3hrs. When he dropped his night feedings, I started giving him a bottle of breast milk for his last feeding to ensure he goes to sleep with a full tummy (the author recommends pumping). Room environment: turn up the white noise and room must be completely dark! For so many weeks he would wake up at the crack of dawn, as soon as ANY light came into the room at 6:30AM, he was ready for the day. When I put in room darkening shades, literally the next day he slept until 8AM. Naps: I was lost in this area. The author’s nap schedule only works for older babies. Newborns sleep a lot during the day! You got to get the naps straightened out if you want your baby sleeping 12 hours. Babies can only sleep so much, so if the baby is sleeping too much during the day then 12hrs at night is too much to expect. On the other hand, an overtired baby does not equal 12hrs of sleep at night either. There needs to be a good balance depending on the age. Babysleepscience.com was my BEST resource for naps, for free! Limited Crying: Author suggests 3-5mins of crying before soothing the baby. This never worked for me until I pushed it to 10minutes. Once I soothe him after 10minutes, he’s done for sure and goes to sleep. Most of the time, he will stop around 7minutes on his own. But never before 5minutes. You have to know your baby, but make sure you have a plan and stick to it. Don’t just randomly decide for one crying session run in after 3 minutes and then the next one wait 15 minutes. You have to be fair to the baby. Give the baby a chance to learn how to self-soothe with a consistent limited crying time. Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman really helped me understand the significance of “pausing”, or allowing the baby to learn how to self-soothe. Dropping the feedings: When training started, my son had two night feedings to drop. The author has a GREAT strategy to drop the feedings. Basically reduce the amount of feeding time (if you’re breastfeeding) every three days until the baby is ready to drop the feeding. And at the same time, every time the baby sleeps past the feeding time, that time always becomes the new feeding time. I LOVED this gentle but forward-moving strategy. However, I didn’t have the patience to do this for two feedings lol. I honestly wanted faster results. So I used the author’s strategy for one feeding and I used my pediatrician’s advice for the other. You’re supposed to work on the second night feeding first, and then work on the first feeding last. My son’s feedings were 2AM and 5AM. For the 5AM feed, I did what my Ped said, which was to just stop giving it to him. Every time he cried, I waited 5mins and then soothed him with the pacifier. It only took 3 nights for him to stop asking for it, exactly what my ped said. I felt bad but I needed to speed it up. Then for the 2AM feed, I did exactly what the author suggests, and it only took 2 weeks for my son to drop the feeding. Bad habits (or sleep associations, sleep crutches): I went against some of the authors advice and developed a few bad sleep habits. I understood that eventually I would need to break them and it would extend sleep training but it seemed worth it for my sanity. For example, before sleep training boot camp, you’re supposed to put the baby down to sleep while he’s sleepy but not fully asleep (FYI, for real sleep training boot camp, you put them in the crib fully awake). Some weeks were so difficult having a newborn, so I needed my break in the evening. I rocked him to sleep and called it a night. Eventually I had to stop this but I did it during an easier phase of his newborn life. I think those were all my major tweaks to the training. You must think outside the box and remember you’re not receiving an individual sleep training service. This book is written to a general population, so adjust to your baby’s needs. I truly believe any sleep training program will work, as long as your consistent. If you’re comfortable with letting your baby cry for a limited time, then this training can work if you do your part.

Purchased this book when our baby was 3 months old and I was turning into a zombie going back to work fulltime and breastfeeding on demand during the night/when home. We followed the book's instructions and had a sleep trained baby in 2 weeks. However it took us a few nights of lots of crying to get there so it wasn't completely tear free. Our baby is now 2.5 years old and still on a schedule and it has worked out great for us. The only caveat is that this book may not work if you are exclusively breastfeeding. My supply definitely dropped the moment I stopped nursing for 12 hours straight. And I couldn't wake myself up to pump to maintain supply. I was also going back to work so I nursed my baby for the 1st and 4th feeding while pumping at work and giving a bottle for the 2nd and 3rd feeding. So even if my supply dropped a lot for the 1st and 4th feeding, baby made up for it with bottles during the day so our baby continued to grow and gain weight on track. It's also possible that since we didn't start the 4 feed schedule until our baby was closer to 4 months old my supply had already been built up and that's also why our baby did fine with the schedule (since I demand breastfed through the early growth spurts up until then). I agree with other reviewers that if you are exclusively breastfeeding, then maybe feeding every 3 hours until baby is eating solids is a better approach. I think also waiting until baby is a little older and has gone through several growth spurts. The alpha mom timeline for a breastfed baby recommends waiting until 5 months before sleep training. (I could not wait that long since I was already working full time and needed my sleep!) Regardless, this book is a great quick read on how to set up a schedule for your baby that works for you. In doing so, you will have a happier baby because the baby has a set routine and you can take control of the day. We are still enjoying the fruits of our labor almost 2 years later with a toddler that goes to bed every day at 8pm, sleeps through the night for the most part and sits downs for all her meals.

I have used this book with all 3 of my children. Two were breastfed, and one was adopted and formula fed. I absolutely love how short it is. As a busy mom it is difficult to find time to sit down to read and digest a 250 page book with size 10 font. I can read through this in a day and set up a plan for my training. We used this with our first child when he was 9 months old. He was waking up multiple time every night and I was exhausted. It was a bit more difficult because he was older and stronger willed, but we were able to get him sleeping 12 hours a night and with a 2 hour nap. He was completely happy and content going to bed, it was absolutely beautiful. It was amazing to get sleep again, so I could be the best mom possible. My second child was adopted and we used bottles and formula. He did well with the steps and was sleeping 12 hours by 12 weeks. He is 2 1/2 and continues to sleep well. We have now used it with our 3rd. I breastfeed and decided not to follow the advice in the book and pump and bottle feed during training. She had a difficult time nursing when she was born and I didn't want to confuse her for this long stretch. I started on the 1st step, getting her to eat every 4 hours. She did very well stretching from 3 hours to 4, and to my surprise she automatically started eliminating her night feedings at 8 weeks old. She has been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now. I have to start working on the next step, but the book is continuing it work like a charm with her. Overall, I have been extremely happy with this book and it's suggestions. It doesn't condone crying it out, but it doesn't suggest that you go hush the baby at every peep. It is very practical and doable. I am not a person who does well without sleep, and this book has blessed my life tremendously. It has helped me be the best mom I possibly can, because I am taking care of myself, as well as my children. Also, as human being we need to learn everything we do. Babies are learning so much in such a short time, why not learn how to sleep and eat better? It make senses, and it works!

I went to the library and took out at least seven books about how to get my baby to sleep through the night, and this is by far the best book even though it is written by a layperson...if you take it with a grain of salt. I gave it four stars because of a few but important points that new mothers need to know about before following her plan which the author does not take into account. I also can't help but snort at " not impressed " buyers/readers who only give this book one star. Obviously the person giving this book one star has not read all the other books out there and then actually tried to follow the long and tedious advices found withing hundreds and hundreds of pages... The Pros of this book: 1. It asks parents to put their relationship with their spouse/sanity/own need first. Then the babies. This is how a healthy child should be raised. Suzan stresses this point, and yes, it might offend parents that center their whole life around their child... so be forewarned. 2. It really is a short read, and is to the point. A sleep deprived mom who can't even remember where her left shoe is will be able to read this in one sitting 3. It outlines a schedule. It also teaches the parent how to get the baby on this or any other schedule that the parent decides to follow. 4. It works! I however feed my baby every 2-3 hours during the day, from 7 am to 7 pm only. The author should have mentioned this adjustment-if needed- and she does not. Why schedule feeding and this book worked for me: My baby was in the 99th percentile for size when he was born and he was so hungry that i was feeding him every hour ( from start to start of the next feeding) ,and each feeding lasted 45 min, meaning that I had 15 minutes off every hour 24 hours a day. I am not kidding. I followed the new age" no schedule, feed any time he wants commonly preached currently practiced by the medical community method of feeding. I then almost drove off the highway with my baby from sleep deprivation. When he was four months old, I finally found this book. After two weeks of feeling like a monster mom, coming into the room every three minutes of him crying, he finally slept through the night. I mean the whole night. 12 hours. The next night he did the same, barely cried for 3 minutes, and fell asleep. He slept 12 hours- again. Now one year later, he still sleeps 12 hours a night . Cons: For super lactators out there ( you are one if using only a hand pump you get more than 6 oz out of ONE breast first thing in the morning). This schedule could potentially work, although feeding a baby only every four hours 4 times a day might not be enough for a very hungry baby. For mine ( because I tried this schedule) it did not work. He got grumpy and mean. But for my friend whose baby puked breast milk up constantly, this schedule actually made the baby stop puking the food up, and gave the baby less gas, cramps, as well as colic. He became a happy baby. My friend by the ways is a super lactator. This is why I only gave this book 4 stars - feeding a baby only every four hours will not work for all babies. Also, beware if you are a mom like me who is not a super lactator. Your milk will slow down the second you stop waking up at night and stumbling like a zombie to feed the baby. This is because of hormones - something to do with feeding in the middle of your OWN sleep pattern causes a greater amount of milk to be produced. Also, feeding every two hours super charges the breast milk production of moms like me- who are not super lactators. By the way, I rented a sensitive scale to weigh the baby before and after feedings to see if her theory actually works... and it does- to some degree. If you feed the baby every four hours and the baby is hungry, your milk production adjusts...but by not as much as she mentions in her book. I was able to raise mine from 3 or 2 oz to 5 oz. But I was never able to produce 6 oz during the half hour feedings. My friend however, raised hers from 10 to 12 oz. Please mark this review if you found it helpful :)

We have been following this book since he came home from the hospital and started “baby boot camp” when he met the requirements of the book, today he is 3 months old and he is consistently sleeping 8 hours on his own, while room sharing. We exclusively formula feed because I had breastfeeding difficulties. My only modification is that my baby cant eat more than 4oz per feeding and sometimes wants less, so we modified the daily feeding schedule to fit all 24oz in during the daytime. He sleeps from midnight to 8am. (We eliminated our 4am feeding time). There is still room to improve as he gets older and can eat more in 1 sitting but for now, Im very happy with 8 hours by 3 months old! My advice: dont be rigid in your schedule, use the basic principles of the book and mold them into what works for you and your baby. Overall we had probably 3 days of crying, the longest the crying lasted was 20 mins. Each day after was shorter amount of crying until it stopped and he just slept through. 1) 8am - 4oz 2) 12pm - 2oz 3) 2pm - 4oz 4) 5pm - 4oz 5) 7pm - 4oz 6) 9pm - 2oz 7) 11:30pm - 4oz Update 4 months old - I’ve dropped the schedule now that he is consistently sleeping through the night on his own. Bedtime bottle at 11:30pm, sleeps through the night and has a morning bottle at 8am, he then goes back to sleep and “gets up for the day” anywhere between 10am-12pm, and then after that I just feed on demand and nap on demand. Usually 3 naps through the day about 20 mins each. This schedule is perfect for our family and Im really happy the book helped us get there.

We read The Baby Sleep Solution with hope in our hearts, To train our baby’s sleep, to make bedtime smart. At just eight weeks old, he’d sleep through the night? With the schedule outlined so clear, it all felt so right. The first night we wondered, was it just a fluke? Twelve hours of sleep, was is just a dupe? The second night came, and we thought it a chance, By the third night, we were in a sleep filled trance. Now at sixteen weeks, he’s sleeping so sound, The book’s simple steps turned our nights around. A quick read indeed, just a few hours’ time, For sweet, restful nights, it’s a read that’s sublime. So here’s to the book that brought us such peace, Our baby’s sleep woes have finally ceased. The Baby Sleep Solution is a dream come true, For peaceful nights and mornings anew!

Breastfeeding moms beware!! Not only did this not work for my baby (he was hungry and would be up and cry for hours in the middle of the night) but it also completely ruined my milk supply. In the beginning I was pumping and bottle feeding a lot to make sure he was getting enough. I then went back to EBF and couldn’t figure out why he was up all night and cranky all the time, wrongfully assuming it was part of the weaning process, until I needed to pump again one afternoon and realized that my milk supply was scarily low. My poor baby was starving. I didn’t expect this to happen at all especially because I’m an oversupply mama. Going 12 hrs without breastfeeding overnight is NOT good for breastfeeding moms. Because I’m an oversupply mama it only took just over a week to get my supply back up (still a huge pain and a lot of work) to where it needed to be but I’ve heard nightmare stories of it taking some women more than a month. Although this program didn’t work for my son and caused milk supply issues, I have given it 3 stars because I did get some good out of it. The daytime schedule really works for us and was a godsend, especially for my transition back to work. We also created a really special bedtime routine that I look forward to every day now. Also, my son does sleep for a longer stretch of time in the beginning of the night. We were just not successful with eliminating night feedings even though we painfully stuck through it for 3 weeks.

Perfect solution to our 11wk Olds sleep issues. It's been 10 years since my last infant,so I needed to brush up on some issues. After started to read the book (easy quick read ) I realized that my husband and I were doing a fairly good job. We just needed some adjustments. So yesterday we stared the program. It's 7am and she had been asleep since her last bottle at 9pm. Incredible change! We r very pleased with the results, now today we just need to tweak the program to best suit our LO. For instance at 8pm (last bottle/bedtime) she wasn't hungry enough to want to eat, and was extremely exhausted) I rocked her in my arms at 8pm for 5mins and put her down, at 9pm she woke and ate 3.5 of the 5oz she was meant to eat. At 5:30pm she dozed off and I woke her after 20mins, today I will let her sleep 45mins so she still tired at 8 but isn't overtired. I will also try and make her do most of her eating early in the day, so by bedtime she can get away with a small 2-3ozs of BM. Making diaper changes fairly unnecessary during her 12hr sleep. I suggest this book to any parent waking even once at night for a feeding. Now I just need to wake to pump BMW at night. My husband and I may even be able to sleep in the same bed! LO has been sleeping in a cosleeper on my bed next to me or my husband. Time to move her out of our bed and into her bedside cosleeper. Btw she didn't even need her pacifier to fall asleep last night! So I wasn't putting it in each time she spit it out. Brings me to Dr browns "lovey" pacifier holder zebra. Works quite well! Used that for the first time yesterday as well...