Elizabeth Pantley’s best-seller, The No-Cry Sleep Solution, has been published in twenty-three languages and has sold more than 200,000 copies! But I have to admit I haven’t read it because I never felt the need. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but my girls have always been good sleepers! Sure, we’ve had a few difficult nights here or there, but overall I’ve been very lucky. When Elizabeth asked me if I wanted to review her new book (her ninth!), The No-Cry Nap Solution, I was about to decline, but decided to check it out since at that moment I was struggling with transitioning my toddler from two naps to one.
In The No-Cry Nap Solution Pantley addresses the importance of naps and how they make a difference in day to day life, and provides solutions for a great deal of napping problems. I was happy to find an entire chapter about shifting from two naps to one, since that was my main concern. This seems to be a significant milestone in a child’s sleeping routine, second only to giving up naps altogether!
Pantley discusses the “magic” behind naps – everything from how they improve a child’s brain development, to the simple fact that naps give parents a much-needed break during the day. I think many moms, especially those that have more than one child, don’t realize just how crucial naps are, and this book is very effective at bringing this point across.
I haven’t read many parenting books because I’ve always been afraid they’d be too technical, but Pantley’s writing style is warm and comforting, making the book very easy to read. To deal with napping problems, she suggests creating a log of your child’s sleeping patterns in order to create a “nap plan”. I didn’t do this exactly, but did write down some observations in a journal in MJ’s room during the week that I was reading the book. Pantley makes it clear that every child is different, so what may work for one doesn’t work for the other, but I did hope to find some solutions for MJ’s napping issues.
This is what I observed:
- She spits out her pacifier in the middle of her nap, wakes up, and doesn’t want to fall back asleep.
- She doesn’t want to nap when she hears me and her sister downstairs.
- Her room is too bright during the day.
- She’s overtired sometimes from all we do in the morning.
- I have to work around her big sister’s schedule.
- I find the more she sleeps during the day, the better she sleeps at night.
So what exactly did I gain from this book? I learned the real reason why a child gets cranky after missing a nap – hormones! I learned that it’s perfectly okay for MJ to only nap once a day because she continues to get the right amount of sleep, according to Pantley’s sleep chart. I learned that I should put her down when she first shows signs of being tired, which will make it easier for her to fall asleep. I learned that I shouldn’t engage her in any fun activities just before naptime, which will make her less reluctant to go to bed, because she might be afraid she’ll “miss something”. I learned to use the Gentle Removal technique to slowly wean her off her paci (still working on that!)… and so much more.
A large part of this book is dedicated to newborns, so I could see it as a great gift for a new mom. It’s the type of book that you’ll keep going back to time and time again, as your child grows and sleeping patterns inevitably change. Elizabeth Pantley’s gentle, loving techniques have been tested on families all over the world, and being a mother of four herself, I can definitely tell she knows what she’s talking about. I’m going to check out The No-Cry Potty Solution next because I just can’t wait til MJ’s out of diapers!
You can find The No-Cry Nap Solution, as well as Pantley’s other books, on Amazon and at popular bookstores nationwide. Visit her website for more information.
