What time is it? Midnight? Two a.m.? Are *you* awake because your child is? Noted child psychologist Dr. Jodi Mindell offers simple, practical, and proven methods to give *you* the much-needed rest you deserve. Download this e-book to understand how to help your child sleep, undisturbed and undisturbing, all through the night.

Right after "Is it a boy or a girl?" and "What's his/her name?," the next question people invariably ask new parents is "Are you getting any sleep?" Unfortunately, the answer is usually "Not much." In fact, studies show that approximately 25% of young children experience some type of sleep problem and, as any bleary-eyed parent will attest, it is one of the most difficult challenges of parenting.

Drawing on her ten years of experience in the assessment and treatment of common sleep problems in children, Dr. Jodi A. Mindell now provides tips and techniques, the answers to commonly asked questions, and case studies and quotes from parents who have successfully solved their children's sleep problems.

Unlike other books on the subject, Dr. Mindell also offers practical tips on bedtime, rather than middle-of-the-night-sleep training, and shows how all members of the family can cope with the stresses associated with teaching a child to sleep.

Susan's daughter, Elisa, has never slept through the night. She falls asleep sometime between 7:30 and 10:00, sleeps for a few hours, then wakes up and begins crying. In order to fall back asleep, Elisa needs Susan to rock her. This pattern has been repeated every single night at least twice a night since Elisa came home, nineteen months ago. One Tuesday night a few weeks ago Elisa slept from 10:00 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. According to Susan, "It was a miracle." Susan and her husband are both at their wit's end. They have fought frequently about this problem, and at this point they are both too tired to function, let alone enjoy being parents.

Right after "Is it a boy or a girl?" and "What is her name?" the next question that veteran parents ask is "Is she sleeping through the night?" The above scenario describes the situation faced by many parents of infants and toddlers. Study after study has shown that approximately 25 percent of all young children experience some type of sleep problem. Most of the time these problems are related to getting to sleep and then sleeping through the night.

Sleep, or the lack thereof, is a critical aspect of childrearing. Good babies sleep. Most babies don't. As long as you get enough sleep, a parent can deal with just about anything during the day. However, when it is 4:00 in the morning and you have just been awakened for the third time and are facing a screaming baby, all sanity goes out the window. It would try anybody's patience. What parents resort to is even more incredible. Many parents, as they are circling the block in their car at 3:30 in the morning wearing only their pajamas and mismatching socks, with their baby sleeping peacefully in the car seat, try to imagine how they are going to explain this behavior if pulled over by a police officer.

Everyone sleeps. Humans sleep, toads sleep, monkeys sleep, dogs sleep, and whales sleep. Perhaps all species sleep. But, surprisingly, we know very little about sleep. Although sleep researchers understand the mechanisms of sleep and what happens to the brain and body when we do sleep, we still do not know why we sleep. What is sleep's function? No one knows. Some believe it is a restorative function. Others believe that it is for energy conservation. And even others believe that it is adaptive, that it enhances survival. We do know that everyone has to sleep. People cannot function without it. The body craves sleep if too much time has gone by without it. People also don't feel like themselves if they haven't gotten enough sleep. So while we are not exactly sure what it is, we know that we all need to sleep.

One aspect of sleep that is well understood is that many people have sleep disorders. Approximately 25 percent to 30 percent of adults have some type of sleep problem, whether it is insomnia, sleepwalking, or just too little sleep. Babies and toddlers also have sleep problems. Some are quite serious, such as sleep apnea, whereas most are just difficult to deal with, such as bedtime problems or frequent night wakings.

Since sleep is a natural process, we must all know how to sleep. However, good sleeping habits must be developed. And sleep, especially falling asleep, involves a number of behaviors. These behaviors are what become problematic for many babies and toddlers. Babies learn to fall asleep in specific circumstances, such as being rocked, lying in a crib, or being pushed in a carriage. It is these specific circumstances that may or may not lead to a baby's sleep problems; that is, many babies develop good sleep habits, whereas other babies develop poor sleep habits.