Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber, M.D. – Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems provides important basic information that all parents should know regarding the nature of sleep and the development of normal sleep and body rhythms throughout childhood. He discusses the causes of most sleep problems from birth to adolescence and recommends an variety of proven solutions for each, allowing parents to choose the strategy that works best for them and their children. Parents either love or hate Ferber’s approach, but it is often misrepresented as simply a “let them cry it out” approach, which it is not.

Sleepless in America: Practical Strategies to Help Your Family Get the Sleep It Deserves by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, Ed.D – An estimated 69 percent of American infants, children, and teens are sleep deprived. Sleepless in America offers tired and frustrated parents a helping hand and a new approach to managing challenging behaviors by integrating research on stress, sleep, and temperament with practical strategies and a five-step approach that enables parents to help their “tired and wired” children get the sleep they so desperately need. What I like about Kurcinka’s books, including this one, is that they are practical and seem to honor well the balance between what is best for the child and what is best for parents. You can listen to an interview with Kurcinka on the Creating a Family Radio Show/Podcast.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. – A straightforward approach to solving and preventing your children’s sleep problems from infancy through adolescence. In Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, Weissbluth lays out a step-by-step regime for instituting beneficial habits within the framework of your child’s natural sleep cycles. A valuable sourcebook, it contains the latest research on common mistakes parents make trying to get their children to sleep, handling nap-resistant kids and when to start sleep-training, how early sleep troubles can lead to later problems and more.