The issue of babies sleeping is perhaps one of the most controversial topics there is when it comes to raising your baby. Let's face it, sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture.I think this is an area which most of us want to get right, for our own sanities and to ensure we have a happy baby.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to imagine that all the answers to a good nights sleep have been written in a step by step manual to follow? Well as you can imagine many authors believe they have done just that.

General books on getting babies to sleep have been written by a variety of people from parents to paediatricians and maternity nurses. Each has their own programme, plan, set of rules or ideas about getting babies to sleep and as you can imagine these vary greatly.

Babies sleep approaches vary. I really wanted to find a ‘gentle way’ to help my baby sleep. I have to say I read a lot of baby sleep resources. I started with following many of the ideas in Dr. Sears books which advocates co-sleeping.

Some authors of baby sleep books follow a firmer approach to sleep and believe that some form of routine is needed and most believe that it may be necessary to leave your baby to cry for a certain amount of time to help them learn to go to sleep in their own.

For those of us who have fallen off the wagon and not been consistent with the well intended advice these authors have given, they have also given us advice on how to remedy the baby sleep problems we may now be facing. I know first hand just how desperate you become when faced with a baby who just won't sleep when you need to!

You may be like me and start out reading a book that follows the no-cry method in the desperate hope that this will be the answer for you and then in finding that it isn't end up in search of a book that will offer you a good nights sleep tears and all!

Along the journey to finding out what works best for you and your baby you will learn about the different ideas and suggestions there are out there about babies sleeping.

You may consider using a baby sleep sack. My son has used a baby sleep sack since he was a newborn and at 2 and a half he is still wearing one. I highly recommend them!

You may also consider using a baby sleep schedule. When it comes to a baby sleep schedule there are several schools of thought and depending on which side of the fence you stand it can become quite a controversial issue.

Most of us really want, or dare I say need, our baby to sleep through the night, but some authors will tell you that sleeping in a 7 hour stretch is sleeping through the night. Others will tell you that some babies such as breastfed babies are not supposed to sleep through the night.

Oh it gets confusing.

One thing I find the following authors to be consistent on however, is their belief that we need to learn about sleep and understand the different stages of sleep that babies experience. Most of the books about babies sleeping we have listed on our site offer just that.

On Becoming Baby Wise: The Classic Sleep Reference Guide Used by Over 1,000,000 Parents Worldwide Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam This book is based on an approach which falls somewhere between rigid routines and attachment parenting. It encourages parents to adopt a routine with both feeding and sleeping from day one. The 'baby wise' approach encourages Parent directed feeding (PDF) as opposed to demand feeding your baby whether breast feeding or bottle feeding. Read our review 2001, Parent-Wise Solutions

Personalized sleep consultations that provide sleeping options customized for the way in which you want to raise your family.

As your sleep consultant, Nicole Johnson knows better than anyone how frustrating poor sleeping habits can for both children and parents. Nicole also knows how important it is for parents to learn the process of sleep and the types of options available before settling into a routine that will work. Contact your sleep consultant.

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