Let's talk about your new family's sleep

Let's talk about...

by Lyndsey Hookway

Many parents worry about their child's sleep, and parents of new babies are often exhausted - but there is hope. This realistic, reassuring, and refreshing guide to sleep looks at sleep for both parents and children, and aims to empower and encourage parents to feel calm, confident and compassionate in their parenting. It strikes a balance between prioritising infant and child mental health and attachment, and being compassionate about the reality of raising a family in today's society, with social support and understanding often in short supply. With practical and easily implementable ideas, and clear explanation of the many myths surrounding infant and baby sleep, this gentle and holistic guide is sure to allay many parents fears and help everyone in the family get the rest they need

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2020

About the author

Lyndsey Hookway is a London-trained paediatric nurse, health visitor, IBCLC, holistic sleep coach, independent lecturer and international speaker. She is currently undertaking a postgraduate degree at Swansea University, exploring the needs of medically complex breastfed children and their families. She has an international private practice supporting families with sleep, breastfeeding, bottle-feeding and responsive, gentle parenting, and has supported thousands of families with early parenting over the last 15 years. She runs a successful online sleep programme which promotes responsive parenting and family-centred care and is particularly known for her creative sleep solutions for toddlers and preschoolers. She is the author of Let's talk about your new family's sleep, Holistic Sleep Coaching and Still Awake.

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read that doesn't push sleep training but instead helps you have reasonable expectations of your baby and yourself. At the moment I am lucky enough to have a baby that sleeps through the night, but I know that if this were to change and go back to the kind of 'sleep' we were experiencing in the early weeks, I'd feel a lot more mentally prepared to be able to deal with it and make steps towards improving things. This book is incredibly understanding and supportive, and I would thoroughly recommend it (and Lyndsey's instagram) to all new parents.

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely reassuring book. It covers a holistic approach which includes adult sleep as well. This book doesn't offer magic fixes and it doesn't profess to either, it's a gentle sleep book with bucket loads of encouragement and reassurance.

[Bernie Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler alert: your child will sleep eventually!

At points, reading this book felt like receiving a hug.
Ironically, post-partum fatigue means I’ve finished it after my baby’s sleep issues have mostly been resolved (for now at least!).

I definitely should have read a few chapters during pregnancy. Later, the noise surrounding baby sleep was deafening to my over-stimulated, over-caffeinated ears.

Everyone annoyed me. The unsolicited advice people, the mum’s of great sleepers who had their make up done, the Instagram experts flogging one-size-fits-all packages. This book didn’t annoy me! It’s the ‘come as you are’ for parents of ‘bad’ sleepers.

My attitude to my child’s sleep completely transformed thanks to this book. Thank you Lyndsey Hookway!

[Faye Zheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a journey this year with baby’s sleep. Who could have predicted that my second child would be so resistant to sleep-training, have so much stamina to protest in the middle of the night, and so prone to insane regressions seemingly every month?

At 11 months old, I decided to surrender to this phase and go all-in on an attachment-based sleep approach - that is, to accept that it is normal for babies to wake in the middle of the night, that cosleeping and assisting to sleep is normalized in the vast majority of cultures around the world (me included, I slept in my parents’ bed until 3 or 4), and that the best thing to do for my mental health was to find ways to cope rather than ways to fix.

This book was the first baby sleep book I have ever read in normalizing this responsive approach to sleep, and it has done wonders in reducing what had become an obsession with perfecting my child’s sleep.

[Justified Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the mother of a baby that just won’t sleep I’ve read a LOT of books about sleep offering all sorts of magical fixes. This book doesn’t, and that’s what makes it so great!
Let’s Talk About Your New Family’s Sleep is very well researched and encourages you to reframe how you think about sleep. The book opens with 10 very encouraging sleep myths and goes on to focus on truths
One thing that makes this book stand out among baby sleep books is its focus on parental sleep; Hookway is very interested in ensuring parents are in the right frame of mind to approach their babies’ sleep.
Although she’s not offering magic fixes Hookway does offer some helpful, gentle tips to readjust your babies sleep.
Would definitely recommend to new parents with babies that hate sleep.

[trina · Rating 5 out of 5]

a book our government should send for free to every new parent. I bought it in desperation when the baby proved to be a much worse sleeper than his brother, and made it about two chapters in before I was soothed that normal baby sleep is just all over the goddamn place and it isn't anything I was or wasn't doing. you'd think that being a second time parent, I'd know that, but with a newborn you are so tired that you don't know literally anything. I love how compassionate Lyndsey is towards parents and also babies, and her lovely soothing voice should be the one every mom hears in their heads for the entire first year of a baby's life.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to say about this book, other than that it made me feel like a normal parent and human! It didn't offer a lot of brand new information or things I didn't already know, but it made me feel better about my family's sleep situation - unlike other sleep books I've read. I felt hope that eventually sleep situations will changes and there's an easier, more comfortable way to journey through this season. If you're not comfortable with more intense methods of sleep training, or feeling exhausted, you should read this book!

[Ina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I’d read this when I’d gotten pregnant. I had no idea sleep was so nuanced and unique to each child. Lyndsey Holloway presents the many facets of sleep with plenty of evidence, examples and ideas so you can make up your own mind about what’s best for your child. I highly recommend this book to all parents, and parents to be.

[Valentina Hurley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book interested me as I have a 18 month old that we co sleep with but unfortunately for me it was like a high school essay and I learnt nothing new.
It’s not a book you can pick up and just dip in to and no new parent is going to labour over this long book that just doesn’t offer anything new

[Shan Carleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when my little one was around two months old and I wish I had read it sooner. There is no “quick fix” promised but rather gentle reassurance and explanation about infant (and adult) sleep. A brilliant and comforting book for anyone looking for responsive parenting strategies, and easy enough to read when sleep is lacking!

[Kate Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book to read for any parent of a little one. This book doesn’t offer any quick fixes to sleep concerns, rather gives an insight into why your baby may be going through some challenges. It does offer lots of tweaks you can make to your bedtime routine and encourages and supports responsive parenting. I only wish I had read this in the very early newborn days!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every new parent should read this!!

[Sinead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book. Plenty of reasonable advice without preaching

[Mikayla Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a worthwhile read for any parent, struggling with sleep or not!

[Beth Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a reassuring book when in the midst of sleep challenges. I listened as an audiobook and found it incredibly helpful.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

very reassuring read on what’s biologically normal for sleep. for parents whose instincts tell them not to sleep train.