3 Great Books on Baby Sleep for Working Moms
This post may contain affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Baby sleep can be, well, a nightmare (pun intended). While there’s a ton of sleep advice online, sometimes you just want to read a book by an expert — that’s why we’re rounding up three great books on baby sleep for working moms. Most of us know the usual suspects, like Precious Little Sleep, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and The No-Cry Sleep Solution, but we’re sharing a few you may not have heard of.
Readers, what are/were your favorite baby sleep books? Or did you ditch the books (many readers have commented they dislike sleep books in general) and rely on other advice, online or otherwise?
Some parents treat their favorite sleep book as the baby-sleep bible (which is fine, of course!), while others draw from expert advice online, parent-group tips, pediatrician guidance, and personal preference (plus desperation from their own sleep deprivation). Infant sleep books are definitely not one-size-fits-all, and it may take trial and error to find one that works for your family.
Quick tip: If you don’t have time right now to read (or even skim) a book, ask ChatGPT for a summary. You can prompt it to make the summary as brief or as detailed as you like, e.g., “Give me a chapter-by-chapter summary.”
All three books below have been recommended by readers!
{related: what crazy things have you done to get your kids to sleep?}
3 Great Books on Baby Sleep for Working Moms
The Natural Baby Sleep Solution: Use Your Child’s Internal Sleep Rhythms for Better Nights and Naps
by Polly Moore Ph.D., 2016 (Amazon)
Dr. Polly Moore, a sleep researcher and neuroscience Ph.D., wrote The Natural Baby Sleep Solution to share her techniques that are based on the basic human rest and activity cycle (BRAC), which takes place every 1.5 hours. The guide is designed for parents of babies aged two weeks to one year.
Dr. Moore advises parents that babies’ frequent naps can help nighttime sleep, so her N.A.P.S. system involves Noting the time baby wakes up; Adding 90 minutes; Playing, feeding, or pursuing other activities; and then Soothing your baby back to sleep. When your baby wakes up, start over (whee!).
The problems Dr. Moore’s strategies can address are your baby confusing daytime and nighttime, waking up too early, and doing other things that can make you want to tear your hair out. It helps parents recognize infant sleep cues, create a sleep-friendly environment, and learn about baby sleep in general.
{related: sleep training, Cry It Out, and other thoughts}
The Happy Sleeper: The Science-Backed Guide to Helping Your Baby Get a Good Night’s Sleep — Newborn to School Age
by Heather Turgeon, MFT, and Julie Wright, MFT, 2024 (Amazon, Bookshop)
Psychotherapists and sleep experts Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright wrote The Happy Sleeper to provide new parents with a middle ground between Cry It Out and attachment parenting / co-sleeping. They say they don’t view “loving, secure attachment” and “good, independent sleep” as mutually exclusive goals.
The book aims to help parents help their babies self-soothe while still making them feel secure, and includes advice on helping children through school-age. It emphasizes mindful parenting and empathy and addresses sleep issues like night waking, early rising, and resisting bedtime.
The key elements of The Happy Sleeper‘s approach are making a predictable bedtime routine and checking on your baby briefly at increasing intervals — without engaging them too much.
If you have much older kids who could use sleep help (why do middle school and high school start so early?!), check out Turgeon and Wright’s Generation Sleepless: Why Tweens and Teens Aren’t Sleeping Enough and How We Can Help Them.
The Good Sleeper: The Essential Guide to Sleep for Your Baby (and You)
by Janet Krone Kennedy Ph.D., (Amazon, Bookshop)
The Good Sleeper is the first book by Dr. Janet Krone Kennedy, the owner of NYC Sleep Doctor, a popular consultation and psychotherapy practice. (Interesting background tidbit: Dr. Kennedy created the Sleep Disorders Treatment Program at the Manhattan Veterans Affairs Medical Center.)
This book arose from Dr. Kennedy’s goal of demystifying the heaps of confusing information out there about baby sleep and sleep training — and counteracting misinformation and misconceptions. She aims to teach parents the basics of children’s sleep and help babies sleep through the night and nap well during the day.
Dr. Kennedy’s guide shares info on a sleep-friendly environment, sleep cues, and bedtime routines; provides strategies for sleep difficulties such as nap resistance; and encourages parents to not only remain patient but also remember their own sleep needs.
{related: get better sleep as a working mom using these 6 baby sleep tips}
Bonus Recommendation
It’s not a standalone sleep book, but readers have recommended checking out the sleep section of the popular book Baby 411: Birth to Age 1. It covers baby sleep patterns, good sleep habits, sleep training methods (including the more “controversial” ones), techniques for handling sleep challenges, sample sleep schedules, and more.
What are your favorite baby sleep books for working moms, readers? Which ones have you tried that didn’t met your expectations? Do you prefer other sleep resources to books?
Image via Pexels
