Sleep Disorders Books

I was searching for a cultural history of sleep, or possibly an anthropology of sleep, because I got to wondering why we think that everyone should sleep in a bed by themselves, 7 or 8 hours without interruption, on a massive piece of furniture, in a dark room. How is that normal? I knew historically you don't have to go too far back for things to be very different, nor do you have to travel far.

I found this. Williams spends a little time on the history of sleeping arrangements and expectations, and a lot of time on how malleable sleep is -- and therefore is a legitimate venue for sociology. Then the rest of this thin book is devoted to what recent researchers in various disciplines have turned up.

It's a good, current overview. Williams' writing style is chatty and engaging without wasting the reader's time. You should have no trouble from here branching out into any particular area of interest (altho most of his sources will cost you more than this volume!).

Of course I wish he had spend more time on family sleep, but that's my personal bias.

Snore No More! is a very unique and special book compared to a few other books and literature that I have read on sleep disorders. The book provides valuable information on identifying appropriate and effective solutions for anyone with sleep problems.

Sleep deprivation has certainly become an increasingly serious health and safety concern in our society and Snore No More! explains how to gain control and improve your sleep problems.

Snore No More! is well written and easy for a lay person to read and understand. This book helps you to gain a better understanding of the most common sleep disorders, such as OSA, sleep disruption from traveling across time zones and working late night shifts.

Included in the book, Snore No More! is a self-test which helps you to determine if you're getting enough sleep to stay awake and alert throughout the day or perhaps whether a medical problem may be causing your sleep problems.

Snore No More! also discusses the importance of having a proper diet, exercise routine and stress reduction strategy is to getting a good night's sleep as well as creating a right sleep environment.

Snore No More! is filled with statistics, descriptive illustrations, sleep research and proper sleep hygiene that will improve your daily habits and help you get a better night's sleep.

The author left no stones unturned when he wrote Snore No More! The book takes you through the stages of life showing how the need for sleep and the problems that disrupt sleep, develops as we age. From infancy to adolescence to middle age and late life. He describes common sleep patterns and what can go wrong to disrupt them.

I highly recommend this book, Snore No More! for people who are experiencing sleep disorders and are seeking a solution to their sleep problems.

A beautful cd with such relaxing sounds, perfect for that short nap during the day. Loved the fact that bells gently dong after either a ten minute , a twenty minute or a thirty minute nap. No sneaking those fews hours kip during the daytime. The sounds are beautiful and even if you don't fall asleep they send you into a relaxed state. The sleep balm that comes with the kit is also great, soothes the tired brow. Have bought four as they will make excellent gifts for all my stressed friends.

Wake Up! You're Snoring presented an excellent review of the daytime consequences of snoring! Most people do not understand that those horrible symptoms they have are a result of not sleeping well. This book covers a lot about weight management and exercise. It suggests different treatments for sleep apnea which is the same information that every sleep book offers. This book did go into more detail about different surgeries that are available. Unfortunately, the mentioned treatments do not have a high rate of success. The last half of the book is a good resource for sleep centers.

This is our first child and we have been very lucky in many respects like ease of feeding and cooperation of the baby. My wife was apprehensive about what to do next when the baby was crying, sleeping, eating etc. This book helped to give her a path to success. Some of the information was not used by my wife and over all the book is very practicle. Here's what we took from the book and how it worked out for us.

We followed the method of having a schedule and we do watch the clock. The baby follows our schedule, we don't follow hers. She eats when we tell her to eat and don't feed on demand. We wake her up at 6:00 am, change the diaper and feed 2-4 ounces of mixed breast milk and similac advanced 50/50 mix. The volume of the bottle increased to 4 ounces and now she is at 4-6 ounces per feeding. After the baby was content and had burped, we put the baby down for tummy time for an hour or maybe longer, then we moved the baby to her bassinette or crib for 90 minutes of sleep.

We feed every three hours on a 6-9-12-3 schedule with a last feeding at 6 and 9 with hopes that she will stay down. We bathe her weekly and after the second time she seemed to like it, plus it helps to get her routine stabilized. My scheduled changed for the month of september and we went on a 5-8-11-2 schedule, any of these are good enough. If you get off the schedule by 30-60 minutes, it's no big deal, just get back on track for the next feeding time.

One last thing, we don't keep quiet or dim the lights. If she has gas and gets fussy we try to help her get it out by walking her around the house in the shoulder burp position and patting. sometimes it helps when we put her in tummy time and rotate her hips to the side when on her back. You have to resist the urge and maternal instinct to pick up the baby when she is crying, just wait 2-3 minutes maybe 5 and see if the crying stops. Diapers excluded, she went right into 5 hours straight during the night then 8 and now she is at 11-12 hours. Good luck.

This book helped me train my twin boys to sleep through the night(and when I say through the night I MEAN 12 hours!) by 3 months old. I also helped me put them on a very structured routine that 18 months later they still use today. It's actually really nice because our kids don't have melt downs like I have seen other children their age have because they get the adaquet amount of sleep as well as put themselves to bed at 8:00 everynight which makes it really nice. Never have we had to fight them to go to bed. They actually bring us their jammies.

My husband and I were skeptical that this book would work for our baby. The longest stretch our baby slept before we started the program was about 3 hours. Well, our son is almost 4 months old now and he's been sleeping for 12 hours every night for the past 6 weeks. This book has been a godsend. Besides getting our son to sleep for 12 hours throughout the night, this book also helped us get onto a predictable schedule. We weren't even that strict about eliminating the night feedings. When we were doing the training, we just fed him however much he wanted when he woke up in the middle of the night. He just eliminated them on his own. I think the key really is the four feedings a day and developing a night routine. I know there are people out there who are anti-schedule, but honestly, this schedule has been the best thing for our whole family. Our baby is happy and thriving and we get comments all the time from people about how content he is. For the people out there who are bashing this book, I think that they haven't actually tried this program. Our baby took to this really easily which made me wonder if this was more my baby's natural rhythm than the "on demand" thing I had been doing previously. Besides having a happier baby, we are much happier parents. I am a much better mom now that I'm getting sleep. My husband and I get compliments on how content WE are as well. I feel much more confident as a parent knowing that I have a calm, predictable household. From working in the public schools for many years as a counselor, I know how important schedules are for kids and that in general, households with predictable routines do much better than those who don't. This book helped me to accomplish that really early on. Plus, it's just so simple and easy to read and follow. I give this book my highest recommendation. To all you parents out there who are open to guiding your child to better sleep habits, read this book and follow the program. Trust me, it will be the best decision you've ever made!

this book represents a straightforward way to get your baby to sleep through the night

I read all of the reviews on this book and despite numerous warnings that it "wasn't for a breastfed baby", I purchased it.

By 10 weeks he was sleeping through the night with only a diaper change around 1am. We have since learned to change his diaper at 11:00pm right after my last pump and he sleeps till 6:30am. It is common sense, adults learn that they are going to get all of their food during the day so essentially that is what you are teaching your baby. There is no starving! My son gets 28oz of breast milk a day, the difference is that instead of him "snacking" every 2-3 hours, he eats once every 4 hours, 4x a day.

My son is now 3 months old, exclusively breastfed and he sleeps through the night. I love this book. It is straight forward, uses common sense and most of all, possible!

Lights Out had the potential to be a great book.

I agree with the main point of the book that it's healthier NOT to stay up late with artificial lights, TV, and the internet. I also agree that the healthiest diet is a diet low in carbohydrates (and especially low in sugar) with generous quantities of animal proteins and fats. I like the advice to go to sleep after the sun sets and to seal all light out of the bedroom. It's great that someone is exploring the topic of humans sleeping out of synch with the natural night.

BUT I have to say that T.S. Wiley is one of the worst writers I've ever read, not to mention that she's a total crackpot nut case. The writing is completely disorganized, contradictory, and sensationalist with lots of black and white thinking and lots of false information.

Why couldn't she have just stuck to the very important information about sleep, light, and carbohydrates and skipped all of her nutty, self-indulgent, provincial biases?

Her tone is often unnecessarily offensive: "Think of fat as a condom for your carbs," (page 173).

She contradicts herself constantly and gives completely false information: "The Aztecs had corn oil as a fat source, the Greeks had olives, and the Chinese had the soybean," (page 178), and then: "Think about the world we're really from. There were no machines, and therefore there was no corn oil," (page 180).

Just so no one is left confused by Wiley's misinformation, the Aztecs, who existed no later than the 16th century, did NOT eat corn oil, which was invented around the turn of the 20th century. Similarly, soybeans were NOT the source of fat for the Chinese. Soybean oil, which like corn oil is a solvent-extracted oil (thereby necessitating the invention of solvents in order to be eaten), was not produced until the 20th century.

Wiley goes off topic A LOT. At one point in chapter 9 (by the way, the subject matter is so randomly elaborated on that the chapter breaks are practically meaningless), she is in the middle of psuedo-poetic meditation on the "whirling Dervishes" of the spinning planets when she suddenly degenerates into a rant on cigars: "It's no accident that cigars have become chic again" (page 198). And this is strange because back on page 188 she lists vitamins and supplements she recommends including: "And, finally, have a drink or a cigar once in a while; and remember, unless it makes you jumpy, coffee's good for you." Why? She doesn't say, of course.

Wiley fails to sufficiently explain a lot of her advice: "Don't drink milk. You're an adult," (page 173). That's not really enough of an explanation for me. I'm still going to drink my milk.

She also fails to footnote any of her controversial statements. Says who that each human only gets one billion heartbeats, and then we die?

It would be hard to keep track of how many times Wiley tells the readers that they're about to drop dead; that the human race is about to go extinct; that once humans are past reproductive age, nature wants us dead; and that she thinks we should live no older than age 40.

And she repeats her death mantra in a moralizing tone like we deserve to die: "Harnessing the primal energy of lightening gave us the keys to the kingdom. Now we're going to pay," (page 27). "When you're not a player, nature takes you out," (page 88). "You're probably going to die . . . soon," (page 125). "Now we live too long and eat too much," (page 157).

I have three pieces of advice for Wiley for her second edition:

1) HIRE AN EDITOR!!!! (And Editor, please remove from the book all passages which are merely Wiley's opinion and Wiley's polemical, half-baked ideas.)

2) Learn how to use citations and footnotes.

3) Have real scientists who specialize in molecular biology, nutrition, and sleep research proofread your manuscript to take out all of your errors.

I gave this book 5 stars because it has really made me think about the way I'm treating my body. You always hear from people that you should get more sleep but I'm willing to bet most people have just a rough understanding of why. A couple reasons why this book might be tough to read:

- The writing style has been commented on by other readers, the author can sometimes be offensive or crude but honestly I think that everyone should be able to look past this. It could have been done a different way but with absolutely no "comments" it would read like a textbook which is no fun..

- You will probably be offended more than once. This book makes some serious recommendations about the way you should sleep and also eat, recommendations that you will probably be mad at because you haven't been doing them your whole life (or possibly any of it!) Just take them with an open mind, there are 100 pages of footnotes at the end of the book to back them up!

Explores the links between the invention of electric light, diseases, depression, etc. This book changed the way I live, quite literally. Some people seem afraid of these ideas, but all is explained in the book. Once you think about these things, it all seems quite self-evident. Of all the books I've read over the years, this is one of the most important.

The concept for this book is intriguing. If the hypothesis is correct, it would be a most compelling idea for managing our health and emotions.

But... While the author repeatedly says "studies show," she never puts in the reference for *what* study. You can't search the sources. The apparent attitude is that repeating the same leap-of-faith associations many, many times will result in all of us accepting them to be true. Politicians do this regularly. So do used car salesmen. It's not an appropriate scientific investigation.

I confess that I didn't finish the book. I got fed up with the lack of justification and repeated attempts to link Gaia, quantum physics, and serotonin.

This is *not* the scientific method of developing an hypothesis, formulating a test, and observing the results.

Charlie

"Lights Out" advocates a high protein diet, and claims the drop in serotonin alleviates depression. They also claim the risk for kidney damage is remote even if you ate absolutely (no) carbohydrates for 7 months or longer. They also claim that a high carb diet causes muscle loss, yet in fact it is a high protein diet that causes muscle loss. They claim that the cause of depression, manic depression, and schizophrenis is simply from being out of light and dark rythm, and in fact that all mental illness stems from sleep dysfunction. They also say that people with low serotonin are happy people, and that it is serotonin in any amount that's a downer. They say that little sleep causes excess serotonin, and that excess serotonin causes depression. They seem to ignore the fact that people who suffer from depression in fact have less depression when they get less sleep and get more light, thus more serotonin, and that antidepressants method of action is by increasing serotonin. But, no, they insist that excess serotonin makes you blue. Why then, do people get more blue in the winter when there is less light, and find themselves eating more carbohydrates to subconsciously increase their serotonin levels and lighten their blue mood?

There is some good information in this book, but it gets so overwhelmed by the bizarre discussions, comments, and side-trails into subject matters that did not even apply to this book. One third of the book is end notes, and I feel another third of the book could also have been eliminated. Even with the one third of the book I feel applied to the subject matter, I feel there was a lot of erroneous information and personal bias that had nothing to do with fact.

There are some things in this book that I think are dangerous. They suggest taking 150 mg of zinc, twice a day, to reset your internal clock. Taking more than 100 mg a day can be dangerous, and can suppress your immune system, cause enemia, or lower your good (HDL) cholesterol. Also, they recommend tyrosine, but do not reveal that it can severely restrict blood vessels. Note that they do object to high levels of serotonin, partly due to the fact that it can restrict blood vessels, but then they recommend a supplement that will do that. Wacko! So much contrary information in this book!

Not a very well written book. The format is that of a thesis paper. There are multiple errors throughout the book and workbook which add a level of frustration. This is certainly a minimalist approach to the subject of polysomnography.

Not particularly worth the money. I would not have purchased this book had I had the opportunity to view it in person before purchase.

It was easy and fast and as reasonable as any place else. Came soon and in good condition. Thank you so much for making this world a little easier for me. Sharon

Used this and Dr. Kilkenny text and passed the boards on the first try. Great resources.

I AGREE THAT THERE WERE SOME MINOR ERRORS BUT OVERALL A WORTHWILE TEXT. THERE ARE NOT MANY OTHER SOURCES THAT ONE CAN REVIEW TO GET A SAMPLE OF WHAT WILL BE ON THE BOARDS.THE EPOCHS WERE GOOD EXAMPLES OF WHAT WILL BE FOUND ON THE TEST. THE AUTHOR SHOULD PUT OUT SEVERAL MORE EDITIONS OF THE WORKBOOK.

This book gives the reader an excellant overview of the subject matter. To my eye there are some errors but they do not reduce the quality to any significant degree. The questions are very deverse. I especially like the sample epochs. As a trained tech I think that this book is very helpful for the boards. It compliments the Fundamentals text well. It could be made better but it is not as near as costly as any of the APT materials.

There's nothing here that I hadn't tried or already thought of. Mostly common sense stuff.

This book gives lots of good information - most of it is probably common knowledge - but as a parent it's always comforting to hear the experts tell you it's the right thing to do. Although for my specific circumstances this book wasn't exactly what I was looking for. But the information was worth the purchase.

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Patrick C. Friman, Ph.D. shares his wisdom with sleepless parents in Good Night, Sweet Dreams, I Love You: Now Get Into Bed and Go To Sleep!, a simple guide for anyone having problems getting their children to go to bed. Chapters cover specific issues with helping children from infants to toddlers, preschoolers, elementary schoolers, middle schoolers and beyond. Written in plain terms, Good Night, Sweet Dreams, I Love You emphasizes the importance of building good sleep habits, and warns parents that children of all ages are always learning - and therefore responding to their excessive crying, defiance, attempts to leave the bedroom, and other activities with an abundance of warmth or gentleness will create positive reinforcement for the negative behavior of resisting bedtime! Good Night, Sweet Dreams, I Love You walks the reader through time-tested procedures to help children get their sleep, including "cold turky" and graduated methods for tuning out nighttime crying, and the "robotic return" method for dealing with a child who wanders out of bed (return the child silently and emotionlessly and say nothing, so as not to associate comfort or other positive responses to a child deliberately leaving the bedroom). Above all, stresses Friman, the parent must remain in control and not negotiate, discuss or argue about bedtime with a very young child; children need rules, limits, parental authority, and sleep at an early age. A brief discussion of problems such as bedwetting, night terrors, or sleepwalking rounds out this straightforward, problem-solving guide, which points parents to a list of resources for further reading as needed. Enthusiastically recommended for parents or caregivers of young children, and also an excellent baby shower gift.

We used this book for tips for our 17 mo. old and 31 mo. who both went from going to bed like angels to having fits about it overnight, and both decided to do it at the same time.

Most of the info for the age groups we were looking at was common sense. But it was good to hear it again from someon who was an expert and wrote in a fashion that did not talk down to you. Very helpful for weary parents to hear.

We also use "The Sleep Fairy" by Janie Peterson. We got the books separately, but Dr. Friman also recommended this book.

I didn't find much usable information in this book. It basically said I can let a baby cry a little or cry a lot, but didn't give me any good steps for teaching him how to get to sleep and stay asleep on his own. I've since read a much more helpful book titled, "The Baby Sleep Solution" that does give good, concrete steps to follow.

I used this book with both my kids and have given it to numerous friends/new parents. Everyone raves about it. What makes it so good is that the author provides options. Not every sleep training method is for every parent, this book provides the reader with different methods so you can find one you feel comfortable with. And you don't have to buy 5 or 6 books, it's all in there. This book is a great tool, buy it.

The author approaches the topic like a newspaper reporter explaining everyone elses ideas without committing to any. If you want a grand overview of what kind of ideas are out there then take a look at this book. If you want to use the crying to sleep method use Ferber's book, if you don't want your baby to cry then go to The No-Cry Sleep Solution.

This book saved my sanity. It is great because it gives you choices and options so you chose what you feel comfortable with. Three friends had babies about the same time I did, they could not believe how great my son slept. I loaned them the book, now their children are amazing sleepers.

This book is quick and easy to read - an absolute necessity when you're sleep-deprived. It describes problems in a simple straighforward manner and then offers many different alternatives to solve them. It explains the rationale of how these problems develop and why various solutions work. That allows each parent to decide individually how to best solve their own problem. It is very well cross-referenced within the text so that if you find you are in the wrong section, you can easily find the right one - very useful when you want to go back a reread some particular information.

I purchased this book for help with my 8 month old's sleep pattern, and found it to be completely unhelpful. It quotes studies but does not give footnotes or other support as to WHAT studies, or any data about the studies (how many children were involved, etc.) In the sections I read, the only person quoted was Dr. Ferber.

I did like the section on determining what kind of sleeping problem the child has, but when I turned to the section for help with that problem (for me, it was a "trained night crier"), despite the book claiming that there were "fortunately...many options," the two options were cry it out (the "cold turkey" approach) and cry it out, but check on the baby every 5 - 10 - 15 minutes (the "reassuring" approach). Then the chapter ends!

The clincher for me, though, was how cheap the book itself is. The printing is on brown, easy-to-tear pages and goes all the way to the edges of the page - two marks of the truly mass mass-market paperback. Plus, the whole cover pulled completely off the spine - the glue just totally gave way - the very first time I tried to read it!

I think this book might contain better and more varied advice for parents whose children are older - there are a lot of solutions involving discussing, cajoling, and otherwise verbally interacting with your child. But for this mom, it really didn't fit the bill.

Yes, mostly this stuff is as boring as she asserts. It is all public domain stuff, often lifted directly off the web, then compiled to fill a quick and easy book. She misses the point several times - a chapter of The Odyssey is included largely because she does not get it.

But the most egregious error is the chapter on John Glenn's conversations with Capcom during the last orbit of his first flight. She fails to set up the context (I do not think she was aware of it). You see, John and Capcom are having a discussion about John's heat shield, which may have been damaged during takeoff and therefore the capsule may burn up during re-entry. Capcom wants John to take manual control and then not jettison the jet pack covering the heat shield. But they do not want to say why. So they do this, John obeys, reports a "fireball" and is incommunicado for the next several minutes. Given recent events, and the fact that we have three astronauts on the space station whom we do not know when, how or if we will get down, maybe her choice is not as sleep inducing as she thought.

Yet another con job. What are Sterns cedentials??????????? I have tried to read Sterns sophomoric attempts of realationship enlightenment: "Loving an Imperfect Man" and "He just doesn't get it". Now she attempts to make a buck claiming she can help you sleep. Stern must be well connected to get this drivel published.

Ms. Stern is a saint. My wife and I have both had bouts with sleeplessness due in part to our "work-a-day" schedules. YAWN appeared on the bed stand one night and Tillie (my wife) and I have read one another to sleep using Ms. Stern's wit and wisdom on many occasions. After tapping into a bit of Ellen Sue's psyche with YAWN, Tillie brought home another of Ms. Sterns books,"Loving the Imperfect Man." WOW! New understanding, rekindled relationship, and new found love. No more sleepless nights. We are happy! Thank you Ellen Sue Stern!

When I can't sleep I turn to this book. It knocks me out and at times I find myself laughing myself to sleep. A great gift for insomniacs or a reference tool for annoying partners who want to talk before bed. This will put them to sleep in a heartbeat. Yawn is a real sleeper!