Parents' sleepless nights a thing of the past?

Mothers are amazed at how well a spoken-word book is working to get their babies to sleep. Photo / iStock.

For a parent struggling to get a child to sleep, anything that speeds up the process will be greeted as a godsend.

That may explain why a 22-page storybook last night jumped to the top of the Amazon bestsellers list.

The Daily Mail reported that The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep, by Swedish psychologist Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin, promises to have a child nodding off in no time, with a perfect combination of sentence structure and soporific words.

The story follows Roger the Rabbit, who is advised by Uncle Yawn, the Heavy-Eyed Owl and the Sleep Snail to "think slowly, breathe slowly and calm, slow and calm" and "let your whole body be heavy, so heavy that it feels like it falls... just like a leaf, that falls down, slowly down, down... Your eyelids are so heavy".

The book, which sells for $17.64 in paperback, appears to have become popular by word of mouth.

Mr Ehrlin used Amazon's Create Space, in which authors upload books via the internet and each order is individually printed.

The system is aimed at new writers selling books in small numbers. But despite having no marketing, Mr Ehrlin's work was last night selling faster than heavily advertised paperbacks.

Amazon UK's director of books, Alison Forrestal, said: "This is the first time an independent author has taken the number one position in our print books chart."

Mr Ehrlin, of Jonkoping University, said: "It's the verbal equivalent of rocking your child to sleep... I help the child focus on relaxation and become part of the story."

Parents are directed to emphasise certain words and mimic yawning at some points.

One mother wrote on forum Mumsnet: "I was really sceptical, but it really worked."

Louise Camps added on Facebook: "The book helped my four-year-old to bed and fall asleep after reading just the first three pages... I am truly amazed."

- Daily Mail