Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night's Sleep!)

by Jay Gordon, M.D., and Maria Goodavage

Review by Shannon Jones

If you're interested in co-sleeping, either to practice yourself or just to learn more about it, this is the book for you.

Good Nights covers all the basics of bedsharing and co-sleeping, and addresses the hesitations that tend to come up for people, such as "What if I roll on my baby?", "Won't the baby suffocate?", "Will the baby ever leave our bed or learn to fall asleep on her own?", and even "What about sex?".  

Easy to read and balanced with practical tips, research, and real-life examples, the book provides background on the biology, culture, and history of infant sleep arrangements, effectively capsulizes co-sleeping research, addresses safety concerns, provides safe bedsharing guidelines, and illustrates the many benefits of bedsharing both through statistics and interviews with grown children who slept in the family bed.  

It also provides valuable advice on helping babies and toddlers to sleep, both at night and for daytime naps, explains the drawbacks of cry-it-out sleep training, offers a troubleshooting section for bedsharing parents, and even suggests a very gentle sleep training method, which the authors emphasize should only be used by desperate parents who would otherwise resort to cry-it-out.  The authors include interesting and insightful facts on babies and sleep, and finally give suggestions on how to respond to criticism of this choice of sleeping arrangements.  

Personally, since I have been bedsharing with my baby for almost a year now, I got the most out of the section on how to gently and respectfully help your child transition from the family bed to independent sleeping.  Armed with both insights into children's developmental capabilities and practical tips, I feel knowledgeable and prepared for when this time comes for our family.  It also served as a good reminder to cherish the precious moments I share snuggling in bed with my baby, because they won't last forever.

There is very little I can find to criticize about this book.  Though it was published nearly ten years ago and would benefit from being supplemented with more recent research that supports its claims, the current version is still completely relevant as it is.  

In summary, this book is nothing short of excellent.  I wish I had read it when I was pregnant, and would recommend it to new parents, parents of young children who have the transition to independent sleeping ahead of them, and anyone who is interested in learning more about the topic.