2008-10-14 Straightforward, authoritative and IT WORKS

A really, really superb and practical book. So many of our friends have dog-eared copies that have been handed on with ringing endorsements along the lines of "forget the rest, this guy really knows what he is talking about". That's how we got our copy - long since passed on to other worthy recipients.

The difference with Furber is that in contrast to the legion of self-proclaimed pundits he is a clinician with authoritative knowledge of the physiological basis of sleep, and many years experience of treating sleep disorders in children (and adults).

The first part of the book is a layman's summary of the rhythms and nature of normal sleep; which is then used as a basis for explaining what can go wrong and what to do about it. It is worth getting the book for this alone - and it certainly added enormously to our understanding of how our 'softly softly' approach was actually reinforcing our own son's nighttime waking patterns.

And I can honestly say that having (with some trepidation) followed the book's very straightforward and un-traumatic approach, within a week we have had a happily sleeping toddler for the past year. Hooray!