And nothing brings on the tears like an overtired, not-so-cherubic child who can’t, or won’t, go to sleep. I should know. I spent the first couple of years of my babies’ lives in a twilight daze brought on by lack of sleep—theirs and mine. Even with a couple of academic degrees in child development, I didn’t have a clue how to get my little angels off to snoozeville; that elusive secret simply wasn’t covered in the clinical textbooks I had studied. It wasn’t until I began teaching parenting classes that I learned the sleep secrets held only by the real experts: experienced parents. I started collecting the tips they shared, knowing there were a lot of droopy-eyed parents out there searching for help. When it came time to write this book, I had more than 200 parent-approved suggestions! How could I not share these wonderful tips with other night-zombie parents when I had them at my fingertips? Whether you’re expecting your first child (congratulations!) or enjoying the birth of your second, third, or tenth (goodness!), sleep can feel like a big challenge, for both you and your child.
