Marc Weissbluth is an American pediatrician who has written several books on infant sleep. He is a sleep disorders specialist at the

Children's Memorial Hospital Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, formerly Children's Memorial Hospital and commonly known as Lurie Children's, is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care children's hospital located in Chicago, Illinois. The hospital has ...

in Chicago.

Education and early research

Weissbluth was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and graduated from

Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Senior High School (commonly referred to locally as "Paly") is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two high schools in the district, the ...

in California. He received his B.A. from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with Department of Biology Science Honors in 1965. Weissbluth graduated from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

and was Chief Resident at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Career

From 1973 to 1978 Weissbluth practiced solo general pediatrics in Chicago’s Chinatown. In 1978, he joined the full-time faculty at Children’s Memorial Hospital, and did research on sleep in children in the

Sleep Disorders A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder affecting an individual's sleep patterns, sometimes impacting physical, mental, social, and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for diagnosing sle ...

Clinic that he founded. In 1983, he returned to private practice and founded The Northwestern Children's Practice. He conducted research in children’s sleep and discovered associations between infant colic and infant sleep and separately, between temperament in children and children’s sleep. His research also showed that moving the bedtime earlier significantly reduces the frequency of night awakenings in a child. In the Sleep Disorders Clinic, he developed a program consisting of several separate elements to help parents solve their child’s sleep problems. He called this program "sleep training", a term he introduced in ''Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child''. Subsequently, this term has been popularized as shorthand for a specific sleep solution called ‘extinction’.

Publications

* ''Crybabies'' * ''Sweet Baby: How to Soothe Your Newborn'' * ''Your Fussy Baby'' * ''Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child'' * ''Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weissbluth, Marc American pediatricians Washington University School of Medicine alumni Living people Northwestern University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) American family and parenting writers Washington University in St. Louis alumni 20th-century American writers