Sleep: The Brazelton Way

by T. Berry Brazelton, Joshua D. Sparrow

Sleepless nights, wailing babies, and defiant toddlers-these are universal issues for new parents. Now beloved pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton and his esteemed colleague the child psychiatrist Joshua Sparrow come to the rescue with these highly effective and affordable guides. Full of empathy, warmth, and wisdom, each book in the Brazelton Way series leads parents step-by-step through these trying struggles. Courtesy of Dr. Brazelton's unparalleled understanding and experience, parents will emerge from the turmoil relieved, empowered, and full of new pleasure in the strength and progress of their individual child.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 2003

About the author

Thomas Berry Brazelton was an American pediatrician, author, and the developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS).

Reviews

[Victor Porras · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very concise but still helpful and reassuring book. The main takeaways are that regressions happen but are normal and temporary, and parents can inadvertently reinforce bad sleep patterns by overresponding.

[Lightwhisper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posso dizer que me surpreendeu pois até distinção claras dos choros, estes pediatras fazem. E também falam nas situações de choro e como resolvê-las, consonante a idade. Às vezes, parece ser um pouco antiquado.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This method suggested introducing a lovey, putting the child to bed awake, and if she wakes up, go to her but don't pick her up. Pat her back/tummy/side and tell her she can do it. Eventually they sleep through the night. He also suggested that they do indeed get up when they are going through developmental milestones. (Pulling herself up, and not remembering how to lay back down again, with this problem he actually suggested giving the child a little shove instead of helping them, so that they will learn how to do it. I am not sure how I feel about that...) All and all, I don't think that this book helped at all with our sleep problem. It was nice to hear a Dr. say that kids do wake up, and it is ok, just don't reinforce their waking up at night...wait a couple of minutes, figure out what the problem is, and help them sleep again.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My pediatrician recommended Brazelton as the god-father of all pediatricians. I do like his viewpoint. Good advice and recommendations for new moms.

[Jessica Huszar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent sleep book with ideas to get your your child to sleep on their own. Very similar to other books I have read.

[Megan Jessop · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dated

[Kayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can I give this book negative stars? This guy is an idiot.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A great book with a wonderful philosophy. My only critiques are 1) it needs to be updated to current recommendations (ex. swaddling the legs is no longer recommended), and 2) it is vague in parts. For example, it may say to sit beside the crib and rub your baby's head & back until they fall asleep as an alternative to "cry it out" (leaving your baby alone). It doesn't say what to do if your baby is hysterically crying even when you're using the gentle method to help them sleep. 🥴 I definitely want to read more from Dr. Brazelton!

[JS · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're looking for a good book on infant sleep, Elizabeth Pantley's No-Cry Sleep Solution is a better way to go. It's more thorough without being overwhelming, and it has a lot more suggestions and recommendations. Brazelton sort of just says, "this is the way it will be" without giving very many ideas on how to help it get that way. He also doesn't allow for much variation. The most useful part of this book is that he points out that there are milestones and times when children are going to wake up more and need more help in their sleep again. Good reminder.

About the Pantley book: She is very, very anti-cry-it-out, which works for me because I am too. But the way she talks about it could be a turn-off for some people. However, the information and advice in her book is good, even if you aren't as anti-cry as she is.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was going to review this slim, vague volume on infant sleep last week and recommend that potential readers take a pass on this one, since it's such a sparse, general overview of sleep that I couldn't imagine who would use it; really, who reads about infant sleep other than sleep-deprived parents who need concrete suggestions? But then my son learned to crawl and stopped sleeping, and I was relieved to be able to cite Terry Brazelton's "touchpoints" theory about milestones disrupting hard-won sleep success. So don't rely on this as your only sleep book, but it's a good overview for when you're preparing for baby and a good refresher for after you're (allegedly) done with whatever sleep program you decide on.

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to read such a concise book, because I could actually read the whole book during nap time which made me feel good. Obviously does not go into great detail about the myriad of sleep issues.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book as much as The No Cry Sleep Solution but what I found intersting is some of the similarities - this book also talks about establishing a routine, a recommended bedtime of 7 'ish, and says 4 months is the age to begin.

[Melanie Franklin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't help AT ALL. Basically it says "routine, routine, routine." WELL that doesn't work with my baby. Everything I read says the same thing. I know there isn't a magic cure to help my baby go to bed, but I'm tired of reading baby books that all say the same thing.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have read one of his books you have pretty much read them all. A few good points in the book but not worth buying. I am glad I checked mine out from the library.

[Ellenjsmellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice, but did it work for us?? Hell no!

[Aubrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think his "coach your baby to sleep method" would work well for my baby, but I didn't try it because she's pretty good about going to sleep on her own anyway.

[Katrina Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me understand ways of getting your child to sleep. Unfortunately, I never did get to apply it to my children. It is a good book though.

[Louis W]

It's premature to award stars at this point. But if my daughter starts sleeping anytime soon I will give it ten-thousand stars.

[Makayla]

3.5 stars. Mainly focused on toddlers which is fine but not what I was looking for.

[Maria Serafini]

molto interessante e completo!