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How Babies Sleep
A Science-Based Guide to the First 365 Days and Nights
Description
The definitive new science- and data-led guide to baby sleep for new parents, from pioneering infant sleep researcher Professor Helen Ball.
How babies sleep is both exceedingly simple and excruciatingly complex. It is simple because it is based on a few straightforward biological principles that affect babies all over the world. It is complex because we have made it so.
Over the past century and a half, we have tried to manipulate baby sleep to fit with the rapidly changing nature of adult lives. The mismatch we have created with our babies’ biology is framed as ‘baby sleep problems’, and infants are often ‘treated’ using behavioural and clinical interventions. But it is not baby sleep that needs fixing – only our understanding of it.
In How Babies Sleep, pioneering infant sleep researcher professor Helen Ball brings together cutting-edge science, anthropological insight and practical advice to provide parents with everything they need to help them confidently – and sanely – navigate the first 365 night-times with a new baby. It will teach you how to harmonise your needs with those of your infant, and empower you to reject approaches that make you uncomfortable and experiment with strategies that work for you and your family.
How babies sleep is both exceedingly simple and excruciatingly complex. It is simple because it is based on a few straightforward biological principles that affect babies all over the world. It is complex because we have made it so.
Over the past century and a half, we have tried to manipulate baby sleep to fit with the rapidly changing nature of adult lives. The mismatch we have created with our babies’ biology is framed as ‘baby sleep problems’, and infants are often ‘treated’ using behavioural and clinical interventions. But it is not baby sleep that needs fixing – only our understanding of it.
In How Babies Sleep, pioneering infant sleep researcher professor Helen Ball brings together cutting-edge science, anthropological insight and practical advice to provide parents with everything they need to help them confidently – and sanely – navigate the first 365 night-times with a new baby. It will teach you how to harmonise your needs with those of your infant, and empower you to reject approaches that make you uncomfortable and experiment with strategies that work for you and your family.
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Praise
"In a world where infant sleep is grossly misunderstood by parents and professionals, Dr. Helen Ball is the most important voice we have to bring clarity. We must support infants to have safe and healthy sleep, because their brain development and lifelong health depends on it."
—Greer Kirshenbaum, PhD, neuroscientist, doula, and author of The Nurture Revolution
"In a clear explanation of the science, Helen Ball has provided information and reassurance so families can understand their children’s individual sleep patterns and requirements. This book will help parents truly relax and enjoy their babies while getting the rest they need."
—Mary Francell, MA, IBCLC, author of the What Babies Need blog
“How Babies Sleep is a must-read for new parents looking for data to back up what their intuition has been telling them about their baby. Compelling, reassuring, and empowering, it will change everything.”
—Tiffany Belanger, author of Cosleepy
"How Babies Sleep fills me with hope for all the parents and babies who will be nurtured through the night by Helen Ball’s words. Cutting through the overwhelming world of baby sleep advice with science, insight, and compassion, this book offers parents the confidence to trust their instincts and rest easy, knowing their nighttime parenting is exactly what their baby needs. It’s a gift and a lifeline for families everywhere."
—Tracy Gillett, founder of Raised Good
“Based on first-hand experience and decades of research, Helen has managed to write the book on infant sleep that will serve as both a guide and comfort blanket to weary new parents who are inundated by mixed messages about their baby’s sleep. Her empathy, wisdom, and ability to take something as complex as infant sleep and make it digestible is not only no small feat, but is exactly what today’s parents need and deserve to help them make the best sleep choices for their families.”
—Tracy Cassels, PhD, founder of Evolutionary Parenting
“Helen Ball proves that baby sleep doesn’t have to be a nightmare—this book is the ultimate survival guide for the sleep-deprived parent!"
—Dr. David Samson, University of Toronto
“There is no book on the market like it . . . the most important, comprehensive and useful book on infant sleep I have read.”
—James J.McKenna, PhD; Dean’s Executive Professor of Anthropology, Santa Clara University and University of Notre Dame, Director, Mother Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, Emeritus Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Advancement
“When parents encounter so many “sleep experts” and sleep advice, it’s easy to feel lost. In this book Professor Ball translates insights drawn from decades of research to illuminate the evolutionary reasons why babies sleep the way they do, how cultural context influences how we perceive baby sleep and even expert advice, and how parents can have better experiences with nighttime infant care. There is simply no one else who could have written this insightful and profoundly useful book. Parents, health professionals, and anyone who is interested in human beings and how they develop would benefit from reading it.”
—Cecília Tomori, PhD, Johns Hopkins University