Until he was somewhere around 4 months old, my son was never a good nighttime sleeper or daytime napper. He is still needing much improvement during the day, but has since almost perfected the nighttime sleeping (please don't let this review jinx us!). In fact, I can recall one night when he was about 6 weeks old and my husband and I were passing him back and forth for the 3rd hour of trying to rock him to sleep when I just completely broke down. "We're never going to sleep again," I cried to my husband. Looking back, that is just the first of many silly statements I have made as a parent. A couple of days after that night, when we were still rocking most of the evenings away, I came across Good Night, Sleep Tight at Borders and nearly ran out of the store with it.

What is Good Night, Sleep Tight?
Good Night, Sleep Tight is written by Kim West, the self-proclaimed Sleep Lady, who has more than 10 years of experience in helping parents get their children to sleep well. The book is essentially a parental self-help program for the same. It is almost 400 pages long, but it's divided into clear sections so that no parent will probably ever need to read every chapter.

The Sleep Lady begins Good Night, Sleep Tight with an introduction to her sleep program, which is entirely based upon a system she dubs the Sleep Lady Shuffle. The shuffle is a program that falls comfortably between 2 other well-know extremes of sleep training: crying it out and co-sleeping or attachment parenting. The Sleep Lady promises that by using her soothing techniques and shuffle program, there will be less tears than there are in letting your child cry it out, and more sleep for parents than there is with attachment parenting.

The Sleep Lady shuffle program, which Ms. West recommends beginning around 6 months, essentially means that one parent will focus on soothing the child in his or her own bed without picking him or her up. That parent will begin by sitting right next to the crib or bed and using soothing techniques. Every 3 nights or so, the parent will move just a little bit farther away from the child’s bed, but remain in the room. Eventually, the shuffle is supposed to allow the parent to get out into the hallway and then, within approximately 2-3 weeks, to have the child going to sleep on their own with minimal problems. The Sleep Lady recommends using the shuffle for all bedtime and middle of the night wakings, and usually for naptimes as well.

Good Night, Sleep Tight is organized for easy reading by parents. The first few chapters give a broad overview of the Sleep Lady's credentials, suggestions for starting out right with newborns, and the basics of the shuffle program. From then on, the book's chapters are divided according to a child's age: newborns, 1-5 months, 6-8 months, 9-12 months, 13-18 months, 1.5 to 2.5 years, and 2.5 to 5 years. Finally, the last few chapters focus on common situations that might throw a curve into the Sleep Lady's recommended program, including twins, co-sleeping, nightmares, sleepwalking, medical problems, teething, moving, illnesses, and even daylight savings time!

What I liked about Good Night, Sleep Tight
First, I like the organization of the book. If you're like me, you already missed the newborn window, so it's nice to be able to read the introductions and then skip right to the section of the book that focuses on the age of your child.

Second, the book makes for quick reading. I had read all sections pertinent to my child's age in one short sitting. Prior to this review, I read the rest of the book in less than a couple of hours total. It's very easy reading, and it's also very interesting, as the Sleep Lady includes information on the importance of sleep, how it affects growth and milestones, and also intersperses real-life success stories into each chapter.

Third, I came away from this book with a whole lot of great sleeping remedies to attempt or to recommend to others. The following is a list of the valuable lessons I took away from this book:
(1) Average sleep times needed for a child's age and suggestions for feeding and napping schedules.
(2) Ways to get your child to bed drowsy, but awake and to lose both feeding and rocking as sleep crutches.
(3) Ways to get your child to stay asleep longer: dark room, white noise, dim nightlight, pacifier for sleeping only, more absorbent or larger diapers
(4) Consistency and Patience: This was the greatest lesson I learned. Prior to reading this book, if my son woke in the middle of the night, we would sometimes feed him right away and other times try to comfort him on and off for a few hours before feeding him, because we weren't sure he was really hungry. I learned from the Sleep Lady that my son was getting mixed signals and wondering why we would sometimes feed him and sometimes not, so that we had to agree on a plan of action prior to him waking and stick to it each night!
(5) Start and stick to a bedtime routine. We now do a bath or a walk and read 2 books prior to bed every night. My son then gets some cuddling, we turn on the white noise and put him down. He's out like a light!

Sadly, why I still don't place a high recommendation on Good Night, Sleep Tight
First, the book is $22.95, and for that you can buy some formula, diapers, new clothes, or something else that is actually necessary for your child.

Second, the program recommended is far too structured. The Sleep Lady gives great suggestions, but what if they don't work? She seems to assume that all children will respond the same way and if they don't, then I guess you're either out your money or you'll have to call her up and pay more for a personal consultation!

Third, the program is very time-consuming. At times, the Sleep Lady mentions that schedules should be somewhat flexible, but in order to start her program, she recommends that you have 3 full weeks of uninterrupted bedtimes and napping routines. That's nearly impossible with children, work, school, spouses, or anything else going on in your life. It's unrealistic to expect families to just hole up in their house for 3 weeks to do sleep training! Besides, do we really want our children to be that inflexible?

Fourth, I never did the shuffle and my son is sleeping much better. I think some of her suggestions, such as implementing a routine, being consistent, and doing away with rocking, are great, but I don't think it's necessary to purchase the book to learn the shuffle program. I had already heard many of these tips from other moms.


Recommended: No