OurColony.net

Good Overall Hypothesis

Customer Rating:
This book was good in combination with some other books I was reading - Happiest Baby on the Block and The Baby Sleep Solution by Lisa Abidin, Suzy Giordano. Happiest Baby taught me the basics of colic and how to soothe the baby. Your Fussy Baby gave a more indepth analysis of colic but most importantly made me realize one thing - lack of sleep and colic go hand in hand. Once I realize that, I started sleep training. The Baby Sleep Solution worked wonders for us. I would not of thought to do this when I did if I had not read Your Fussy Baby.

Pros- Was informative
Cons- But not that informative

Utterly Useless

Customer Rating:
If you have a colicky baby, don't waste your time or money on this book. I only gave one star because the book might be helpful for the 80% of people with "common fussy" babies. For the 20% of us with the real fussy babies, I agree with the reviewer who says it would be better to spend the time sleeping than reading this useless book!

Practical advice! Theories work!

Customer Rating:
I read many books on colic and sleep habits when my son was very young.

It is so important to respect a baby's need for sleep, early bedtimes, and a schedule. I HIGHLY recommend both this book and "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth.

We survived colic. Our son has slept in his own crib since he was born, and was sleeping 12 hours a night since he was several months old.

I will never forget Weissbluth's motto, "Sleep begets sleep."

Do yourself (and your baby) a favor and buy this book. Skim the studies if you need to, but follow his instructions.

By the way, he does not advocate "crying it out" all night long or anything. Everyone I know who are against a little harmless crying (as explained in the book) and strict schedules are still weary eyed zombies with problem sleepers at the age of four. Good luck, folks. I am enjoying my sleep-filled nights and my son is a well rested, well adjusted, happy child!

I do want to mention that infants with extreme fussiness/colic DO NOT NECESSARILY grow up to be difficult children or poor sleepers. Quite the contrary! I did not agree with that aspect of the book.

Good advice...I think

Customer Rating:
Dr. Weissbluth says a lot of things that make sense. He backs up what he says with A LOT of findings of different sleep studies. He seems open minded to different styles of parenting. He was spot on with a lot of things my baby was doing. The problem with the book is that there is very little organization to it. A lot of what he says seems to contradict itself. The constant comparison of "common fussiness" vs. "extreme fussiness/colic" is tiring and confusing to figure out which methods would work for your particular child. it spends about 90% of it's pages discussing different studies that have been done on sleep and MAYBE 10% telling you what you can do for your child. I just wish he had written a smaller, more organized book so I could actually understand what he was trying to explain.

Insight and Coping Strategies from an Empathic M.D.

Customer Rating:
If you're looking for a quick fix to soothe your cranky newborn, this is not the book for you. That's because, as Dr. Weissbluth convincingly argues, colic (or extreme fussiness) is still not fully understood.

Weissbluth presents the latest research on the problem, including theories on hormonal imbalance and disordered sleep, both of which may be related to "exterogestation," the idea that all human babies continue to develop after birth in a sort of fourth trimester. After dispelling most of the popular myths about the causes of and cures for colic, he concludes that the only thing we know for sure is that most babies outgrow it by 3-4 months. Because simply waiting is not an option for most parents, and because, Weissbluth acknowledges, these babies are hurting and distressed, he also provides a list of methods that might work to soothe your child, including swaddling, rocking, music, encouragement of sucking and massage.

This book was written with care and first-hand understanding in order to help worried parents understand and cope with their children's symptoms until they outgrow them, as well as to anticipate and prevent sleeping problems after the fussy months are over. Weissbluth had a colicky baby himself, and it is clear that he respects the toll that it takes on frustrated and sleep-deprived families.

Weissbluth does NOT advocate letting babies "cry it out." On the contrary, he urges parents to promptly respond to crying in young infants (as Sears does, Weissbluth acknowledges that you cannot "spoil" a newborn by holding, carrying, or rocking). His concern with older, post-colic babies (babies 4-months-old and older) is that due either to intense personalities (which correlate to a predisposition toward colic) or to the necessary coping strategies of families simply trying to survive the first three months of their child's life (strategies like always holding a child until he or she is in a state of deep sleep), healthy sleep habits may be harder to come by. Here, some crying at night and naptime might be unavoidable as parents let their older children develop self-soothing habits and learn to fall asleep on their own. Healthy sleep is as essential to a child's development as healthy food, and Weissbluth offers concrete advice toward that end.

Most importantly, the advice works.

My only misgiving about the book is its organization. A section on sleep before and after four months might have been better placed earlier in the book; at least, I found that to be the most informative part of the book and one that logically relates to the section dispelling myths about colic.