Sleeping Like A Baby

This is my first Parenting Read that changed my family’s sleep for the best. Post the reading of this book, a friend asked me “Who are your parenting gurus?”. Without a thought I uttered the two names “Himani Dalmia and Neha Bhatt”. I came across a few comments on the book Sleeping Like A Baby by Neha Bhatt and Himani Dalmia and felt the need to address them. Before I dive in, read on an excerpt for Neha Bhatt and Himani Dalmia written by the Father of Gentle Baby Sleep Dr. James J. McKenna, world renowned anthropologist, gentle baby sleep expert and founder of mother-baby sleep laboratory. “When it comes to infant feeding and sleeping arrangements, including scientifically accurate information about infant sleep development and what parents can expect during infancy and beyond, and especially how to foster nighttime safety, comfort and developmental benefits for mothers and infants alike, to my knowledge nobody has done this better than Neha Bhatt and Himani Dalmia in their new book entitled SLEEPING LIKE A BABY” - James J. McKenna, You can run a search on google to explore further on Dr. James J. McKenna’s work. I would like to clarify on some of the comments I read in a review here and they are as follows - a) I was extremely confused and startled by a comment that said, “They spend pages and pages writing random statements without any proper evidence and citation”. I would strongly urge for the readers to read through and deeply research on the “References” section (Pages 239-253). You are going to be mind blown with the research papers that have been referenced in the writing of this book and the research papers are by Dr. James J. McKenna, Helen Ball, Darcia Narvaez, Lee T. Gettler and many more greats from the field of Infant sleep and Gentle Parenting. Also, throughout the course of reading the book you are sure to notice that Neha Bhatt and Himani Dalmia have mentioned these references. b) The websites referenced in this book are not from random internet blogs. The American Academy of Pediatrics, Australian Government, UNICEF, WHO, Gwen Dewar, Kelly Mom, Tracy Cassels, Sarah Ockwell Smith are amongst the most common website references made in the book. Once again, all of the respective names mentioned above are reputed and renowned bloggers/researchers/parenting experts. Therefore, none of the references from the “random websites” are random. This only proves to show that the analysis on the references in the book has been extremely shallow and requires more research from the reader’s end. c) About a cave woman comment I noticed, I would like to clarify that cave women did not have white noise machines. Hence, they relied on soothing nature sounds, which is what white noise machines try to replicate, to block out sounds of modern day living which is disruptive to restful sleep. Many white noise machines offer sounds of gushing water, chirping birds, gentle breeze etc… Adopting evolutionary sleep practices and supporting them with modern day facilities (which is economical) is a great way to better a baby’s sleep experience. There is only to gain and nothing to loose. d) The Gentle Baby Sleep India Facebook Group (which parents can join and access for free), has benefited numerous parents since it’s inception in the year 2016. Please run a search for #gratitudepost on the Gentle Baby Sleep India Facebook group only to find yourself in a pool of success stories. e) I have been a member of the Gentle Baby Sleep India Facebook group since 2020. This is a heavily moderated group and all the powerful Admins are dedicated to helping parents all through the week amidst their personal day-to-day commitments. In this current era of sleep training, parents are easily wooed into sleep training practices by many on the internet. Himani and Neha along with their powerful group of admins are providing a noble service by educating parents about gentle and evolutionary sleep practices. The highlight of their book is also their discovery on few other magical ingredients which will only enhance your family and your baby’s sleep experience. f) If not for this group, my husband and self would be having sleepless nights since the very beginning. We have followed all the group recommendations from the day our daughter came into this world. My daughter is now 26 months. We have had our absolute tough times and I’m sure we do have our challenging days ahead. But I owe everything to Gentle Baby Sleep India and Sleeping Like A Baby by Neha and Himani, because I cannot imagine what our lives would’ve been if we had not known about the magical ingredients of baby sleep such as age appropriate awake windows, an early bedtime, holding for naps in the first year and a pitch dark room. Therefore, Sleeping Like A Baby is the ultimate gift Himani Dalmia and Neha Bhatt have showered our parenting community in India and globally. Their book educates readers on authentic baby sleep science and simple means to implement it. To conclude, a baby is programmed for continuous connection while awake and asleep in the initial years and there are many ways to achieve this connection. Listen to your Alpha Instincts and I’m sure you’ll find this book life changing for yourself and your baby. There is no shying away from a baby’s continues need for parental connection. It is going to be stressful and that is the bittersweet truth about parenting. It does take a village to raise a child. Thank you DEEPA HARIKRISHNA - SINGAPORE

This book is an absolute must have from the very first day! Read it and just follow it completely! Just follow it no matter how difficult it feels! After a month it will not only seem practical, but also natural and you will start appreciating your journey as a parent so much more! Your baby will sleep so much better because now all your baby needs to sleep is you! Your baby will fall asleep in seconds to minutes and stay asleep, you will get much better sleep at nights and will wake up refreshed.. it takes a few weeks for it to get easy but once it does, it feels like heaven and you get to just love the experience of raising your baby! This book normalizes contact naps.. a lot of parents would have instinctively felt that their baby sleeps better for naps when they’re held but everyone around them will tell them that they’re spoiling their child! This book normalises that basic parental instinct to hold your child! Its not unsafe, its not spoiling your child (there is no such thing as spoiling a child) Contact naps are better for your mental health, and they reduce cortisol in both mother and baby, thereby promoting better health and better development for your baby. As a first time mother I had a lot of misconceptions about what babies need and most importantly about baby sleep. Honestly a lot of people do have a lot of misconceptions about the way “babies should sleep”. The problem lies in the statement itself.. babies sleep how their brains are wired to sleep.. the same way we sleep how we want to sleep.. expecting anything different from an adult would be unimaginable but we expect our babies to sleep well in a cold crib far away from mom.. and then we are disappointed when they don’t! For working moms, get help to hold your child from the first day! Get everyone on board from the beginning.. you’re the mother, you decide! I see a lot of comments questioning the practicality of this book and in response I say that anything is practical once you decide it is! A lot of things you have accomplished may not seem practical to someone else but you have done it and you will do this too.

Our countries babies are highly sleep deprived due to lack of our understanding as a parents. Sleep is vital just like nutrition for overall development of kids. The book is very useful to understand and apply to ur baby for sleep management. Book is from Indian perspective and so the methods are easy to apply.

Definitely a good read !!

It is a superb book...the book is indeed a go to book dor new parents who struggling with a baby sleep..if you are here already pls don't think but just buy the book helps you understand the baby sleep better and we as parents what can we do to aid make it better .

Himani Dalmia and Neha Bhatt are literally god sent. My husband and I cannot thank them enough for writing this book and for founding the ever so amazing Facebook group ‘Gentle Baby Sleep India’. I would go to the extent of saying that my consultations with Himani and this book are the only reason our life with our daughter is bliss. Not a single day goes by when our friends don’t ask us how our daughter sleeps so well. 🧿 This is the secret, and well it is no longer one. Just forget everything and get this book. It is the only one you will need on your rack once you are a parent. Trust me!

This is like an encyclopedia for babies sleep. Given so good examples that we can relate. Break so many misinformations which we hear from our relatives and friends. I thought that I knew so much about babies sleep but I was so wrong. Parents should read to make their life comfortable and predicting their babies routine.