Many parents feel pressured to “train” babies and young children to sleep, but kids don’t need to be trained to sleep, they’re built to sleep. Sleep issues arise when parents (with the best of intentions) over-help or “helicopter parent” at night--overshadowing their baby’s innate biological ability to sleep well. In The Happy Sleeper, child sleep experts Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright show parents how to be sensitive and nurturing, but also clear and structured so that babies and young children develop the self-soothing skills they need to: • Fall asleep independently • Sleep through the night • Take healthy naps • Grow into natural, optimal sleep patterns for day and night The Happy Sleeper is a research-based guide to helping children do what comes naturally--sleep through the night. The Happy Sleeper features a foreword by neuropsychiatrist and popular parenting expert Dr. Daniel Siegel , author of Parenting from the Inside Out and the New York Times bestseller Brainstorm.

"The Happy Sleeper makes happier parents by unleashing their child’s natural ability to sleep with a sensitive, structured approach based on the authors' combined twenty years of clinical experience."
**—Dr. Mehmet Oz**

"Clear a space on your bookshelf! You'll be consulting this friendly, research-based guide to the blessings of sleep for you and your little ones for many years to come." 
**—Adele Faber, co-author of** How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk

“Compassionate, courageous, and creative. . . Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright have written a user-friendly, scientifically-informed, practical guide that provides the information and intention you need to cultivate healthy sleeping habits not only for your child, but for yourself as well! Give your children the relationship security they need while also providing them the structure they require to sleep well and thrive.”
**—from the foreword by Daniel J. Siegel, MD, New York Times-bestselling author of Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain**

“An important resource for parents seeking to give their children a lifetime of quality sleep. Good sleep habits are vital to child development and overall health, and The Happy Sleeper offers real-world strategies for getting children the sleep they need.”
—David M. Cloud, CEO, National Sleep Foundation

“Solid information on children’s brain development and physiology supports a clear and systematic “attunement” philosophy that strikes a happy balance between “cry it out” and “over-helping.”  Turgeon and Wright’s compassionate but firm system reminds parents that even the smallest infants are already learners, and to be cognizant of what they want to teach.”
**—Publishers Weekly**
 

Autorentext
Heather Turgeon, MFT, is a psychotherapist, a science columnist for the popular online parenting magazine, Babble.com, and a writer for the National Sleep Foundation. Her health and psychology articles have appeared in Salon, The Huffington Post, and The Daily Beast. She is also the mother of two little ones, both of whom sleep happily through the night.
 
Julie Wright, MFT, is one of Los Angeles's best known parenting group leaders and has taught thousands of moms in her popular "Wright Mommy and Me" groups at The Pump Station & Nurtury. She trained at Cedars Sinai Early Childhood Center and co-founded a program for parents and babies, ages 0-3, at the LA Child Guidance Clinic. Julie specializes in attachment theory, infant sleep, and mindful parenting. She also works in a private practice with infants, children, and parents, and is the mother of a well-rested teen.

Klappentext

Many parents feel pressured to "train" babies and young children to sleep, but kids don't need to be trained to sleep, they're built to sleep. Sleep issues arise when parents (with the best of intentions) over-help or "helicopter parent" at night-overshadowing their baby's innate biological ability to sleep well. In The Happy Sleeper, child sleep experts Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright show parents how to be sensitive and nurturing, but also clear and structured so that babies and young children develop the self-soothing skills they need to:

• Fall asleep independently
• Sleep through the night
• Take healthy naps
• Grow into natural, optimal sleep patterns for day and night

The Happy Sleeper is a research-based guide to helping children do what comes naturally-sleep through the night.

The Happy Sleeper features a foreword by neuropsychiatrist and popular parenting expert Dr. Daniel Siegel, author of Parenting from the Inside Out and the New York Times bestseller Brainstorm.

Zusammenfassung
UPDATED IN 2024

Many parents feel pressured to "train" babies and young children to sleep. But kids don't need to be trained to sleep--they're built to sleep. Sleep issues arise when parents (with the best of intentions) over-help or "helicopter parent" at night, overshadowing their baby's innate biological ability to sleep well. In The Happy Sleeper, child sleep experts Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright show parents how to be sensitive and nurturing, but also clear and structured so that babies and little kids develop the self-soothing skills they need to:

• fall asleep independently
• establish a full, 11-12 hour night of sleep
• take regular, healthy naps
• grow into natural, optimal sleep patterns for day and night. 

The Happy Sleeper is a research-based guide to helping children do what comes naturally--sleep through the night. 

The Happy Sleeper features a foreword by neuropsychiatrist and popular parenting expert Dr. Daniel Siegel, author of Parenting from the Inside Out and the New York Times bestseller Brainstorm.

Leseprobe

Foreword

Compassionate, courageous, and creative, The Happy Sleeper is a book for every parent of a young child to savor in its magnificent exploration of effective strategies for helping children get to bed smoothly and sleep well through the night. Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright have written a user-friendly, scientifically informed, practical guide that provides the information and intention you need to cultivate healthy sleeping habits not only for your child but for yourself as well!

Why is sleep so important? It is during sleep that we secrete the growth hormones our bodies need to grow and replenish themselves well. Sleep also allows our body and brain to rest and recover from the day’s activities. Recent studies have revealed, too, that during sleep our brains in effect clean themselves up—removing unhelpful by-products of the day’s neural activity—so that we can function well when we’re awake. Given all of this, it’s no surprise that babies and children need so many hours of sleep as they grow. Infants and toddlers sleep half their day or more! In childhood the amount of optimal sleep gradually decreases, but school-age children still need roughly 10 hours of sleep. Even as adults, we should spend about a third of our time sleeping!

Without the proper amount and quality of sleep, science reveals, we will have difficulty focusing, remembering, and calming our emotions. When we haven’t slept well we don’t learn or operate as effectively because our brain hasn’t had the necessary sleep time to optimize its functioning. Even more, without proper sleep, our immune system does not function well, and so we can become vulnerable to infectious diseases. And our metabolic system doesn’t function optimally, so we can be prone to overeat and not process f…