Our all-around favorite book here for parents about sleep is Take Charge of Your Child’s Sleep, by Owens and Mindell. It not only explains some of the science behind sleep and child sleep problems from toddlerhood through adolescence, but it also does a great job at balancing the scientific evidence base around child sleep on one hand with the reality that not every child and family is typical.

Here are some of the other books we often recommend.

Books for parents about child sleep:

• Sleeping Through the Night — this is for parents of infants and toddlers trying to build good sleep habits early on
• A Clinical Guide to Pediatric Sleep — this is essentially a more clinical and technical version of the book above. It’s aimed at clinicians, but parents who want all the scientific details and rationale may want this book.

Books for children about sleep:

• What to Do When You Dread Your Bed — this is aimed at 6-12 year-olds who are having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep
• Sleep is For Everyone — this book discusses the science of sleep for 4-8 year-olds, complete with a page about what happens if scientists stay up all night to study sleep deprivation.

Picture books that role model good attitudes, behaviors, and skills about sleep:

• To be added