In Search of Sleep: Straight Talk About Babies, Toddlers and Night Waking

Peter Harmathy teaches fine arts in Victoria, B.C.

There isn’t a single parent in North America who hasn’t suffered
some level of sleep deprivation resulting from their child’s night
wakings. Written by a journalist who has worked with Today’s Parent
magazine as a senior editor, this book is intended for those parents who
have tried sleep training techniques advocated by a number of
specialists, and found that they didn’t work. It is a book that offers
frank discussion about different approaches to the problem, suggesting
that the “one size fits all” sleep advice does not take into account
parenting styles, the child’s temperament, and breastfeeding, to name
a few. There are many possible rights and wrongs—it all depends on
individual circumstances and cultural preferences.

This book is replete with discussion and options, not advice or
solutions. While it may never become a classic like Richard Ferber’s
Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems, it nonetheless sheds some
interesting light on the classic problem of night wakings and on the
issue of whether sleep training is even necessary. In Search of Sleep
may be a comfort for parents who encounter conflicting advice, and who
feel it’s okay to sleep with the baby or get up at night to nurse the
child.