The Sleep Book for Tired Parents: Help for Solving Children’s Sleep Problems

Author – Rebecca Huntley

Age Range – 0-6

Key words – Sleep

This is a book for parents of babies and young children. In “The Sleep Book for Tired Parents,” Rebecca Huntley, a family therapist, provides an easy- to- read overview of sleep, and different types of sleep problem, from frequent waking and unusual sleep cycles, to nightmares, sleep terrors and difficulty getting to sleep. Parents are guided through the book to help them identify whether their child has a sleep problem, when poor sleep becomes a problem, and whether this is the right time to tackle it.

The author gives an unbiased account of the four main methods for approaching sleep problems: The Family Bed Approach, The Cry it Out Approach, The Teaching in Small Steps Approach, and The Living With it Approach. The emphasis is on helping parents decide on an approach that is suited to their family and beliefs about childrearing, and once decided on, the book guides them in detail through planning and implementing that approach.

The author is American, but the style is accessible. This helpful book provides a practical, easy to understand guide to tackling sleep problems where the emphasis is on choosing an approach suited to parents’ and family’s individual style rather than there being one ‘correct’ technique.