The Essential Guide to Children's Sleep

Sleep is one of the most essential parts of children's health--and getting adequate sleep is often one of the most difficult challenges parents and caregivers face. In this book, clinicians Andrea C. Roth, Allison Shale, and Shelby F. Harris use their experiences as developmental sleep specialists and parents to create a hands-on, user-friendly workbook for parents and caregivers of children from infancy to teenage years, who struggle with sleep. The authors begin with an emphasis on the need to understand the unique circumstances surrounding your child's sleep issues. A child who struggles to sleep alone due to anxiety and nighttime fears needs a different approach than a child with ADHD and behavioral defiance. Each chapter in this book focuses on children of a specific age group--infants, toddlers, school-age, and teenagers--and examines the most common sleep problems at each age, from difficulties with sleep training, to sleep terrors and nightmares, to defiance and difficult bedtime routines, to the complicated impact of puberty on sleep. Then, the authors describe the best strategies for use with each type of sleep problem, with compelling vignettes showing parents and caregivers how to put these ideas into action. Worksheets help readers develop plans for their specific problem, as well as back-up plans in case the initial attempts go awry.