Interview: Elizabeth Pantley (author, “No-Cry Sleep Solution”)

Posted on | November 16, 2009 | Comments Off on Interview: Elizabeth Pantley (author, “No-Cry Sleep Solution”)

Meredith Magee Donnelly

Elizabeth Pantley, author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution, speaks with sensitivity and intelligence about the challenges parents face in finding a balance between “nighttime neglect and daytime exhaustion”. What a breath of fresh air! I am delighted to share my interview with you.

Everywhere I look these days there seems to be a book, website or television segment discussing the sleeping habits of babies. How did you determine that there was a need for The No-Cry Series?

When my first child, Angela, was a baby, she did not sleep through the night. Far from it! She woke every two hours! As a new, inexperienced parent, I searched for solutions in books, articles, and conversations with other parents. I soon discovered two schools of thought when it comes to babies and sleep: One side advocates letting a baby cry until she learns to fall asleep on her own. The other side says that it is a parent’s job to nurture the baby — all day and all night — and eventually, when your baby is ready, she will sleep through the night. In a nutshell, the two methods can be summed up as “cry it out” or “live with it.” I wanted neither. I knew there had to be a kinder way, a road somewhere between nighttime neglect and daytime exhaustion that would be nurturing for my baby and for me. But I couldn’t find any answers. Time passed, and eventually my daughter did sleep through the night — but not until after her second birthday.

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