Common myths about baby sleep:
Lets dispel some of the more popular myths I’ve seen in parenting forums or heard from Mom groups I’ve talked with:
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1.Won't Sleeping too much during the day keep baby up at night?
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Except in extreme cases, that’s not likely. Unless your little one is sleeping practically all day and up all night, you probably don’t need to concern yourself with the length of their naps.
What keeps babies awake at night is overtiredness. You might think that an exhausted baby is more likely to sack out for a full night than one who slept all day, but it’s actually just the opposite. The reason we refer to it as being “overtired” is because baby has missed the “tired” phase and their bodies start to catch a second wind. A baby who has gotten a decent amount of sleep during the day is far less likely to miss the sleep window.
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2.Will my baby cry?
Unfortunately, there's no way around it. But the good news is that sleeping is a skill and it is quickly learned. Our methods are NOT based on the Cry It Out approach. Sleep changes to anyone’s sleep pattern will typically be met with protests as you're going to have to learn a new set of skills. On average you are looking at the first few nights being the toughest with gradual improvements as you go, seen on night 3 and 4. *Read more about Crying Facts on our blog.
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3.When is the best age to start a sleep training program?
It is never too early to start teaching your baby good sleeping habits. With the right information you can begin to build healthy sleeping habits in the first weeks of life.
Typically parents come seeking support around the 4 month mark, when we see sleep regression in baby’s patterns and it is beginning to take a toll on everyone at the home. Everyone, young and old, can always benefit from better sleeping habits.
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4.Will sleep training work for my toddler?
Absolutely! Toddlers are notorious for testing boundaries and love to exercise their new freedom in a bed vs a crib. We use a slightly different approach that is effective to implement with a toddler and achieve long term success.
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5.Do you accept payment plans?
Yes, we want this to be achievable for as many families as possible. The payment plans can be split into two parts. *Both payments must be made by the time we begin working together.
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6.Do you have a money back guarantee?
This is a common concern from tired parents who are skeptical of a new approach or are frustrated with failed attempts. Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee the success of your baby’s sleep for a couple reasons. First, we cannot be with you all of the time to ensure you are following the custom sleep plan created for you, and second, there might be underlying health issues that are keeping your baby from sleeping.
This is not a new gimmick but a healthy new way of regulating your child’s sleep habits. We have a 100% success rate and if you follow your plan, we will be with you every step of the way to get your baby sleeping (through the night, longer naps, less protest, etc) that is age-appropriate for your child.
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7. Isn't Sleeping a natural development and can’t be taught?
Sleeping is natural. Everybody wakes up and falls back to sleep multiple times a night, regardless of their age. So no, you can’t teach a child to be sleepy. What can be taught, however, is the ability to fall back to sleep independently.
A baby has learned to depend on outside assistance to get back to sleep when they wake up. Once your little one has figured out how to get to sleep without assistance from outside sources, they start stringing those sleep cycles together absolutely effortlessly, and that’s the secret to “sleeping through the night” as most parents understand it.
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8. Won't Babies will naturally dictate their own sleep schedule?
The idea that infant physiology is so flawlessly, naturally programmed to regulate a baby’s schedule is, to be blunt, laughable. Nothing against Mother Nature, but she doesn’t provide us with a ready-to-run baby like she does with say, the blue wildebeest. (Seriously? Walking six minutes after birth? Outrunning predators within a day? Our babies are cuter, but clearly not as prepared for battle straight out of the womb.)
Our babies need extensive care and help in their development, and their sleep cycles are unbelievably erratic if left unregulated. If they miss their natural sleep cycle by as little as a half hour, their cortisol production can increase which causes a surge in energy, and things quickly spiral out of control. So as much as I wish babies could just fall asleep when they’re tired, it simply doesn’t work that way. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t respond to their cues, but you shouldn’t rely exclusively on them either.
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9. Is Sleep training stressful for the baby and can it affect the parent-child attachment?
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Nope. And this isn’t just me talking here. This is the American Academy of Pediatrics. If there’s a more reliable source of baby health information, they’re astoundingly bad at marketing themselves. And according to a 2016 study, conducted by eight of their top researchers, behavioral intervention, (A.K.A Sleep training) “provide(s) significant sleep benefits above control, yet convey(s) no adverse stress responses or long-term effects on parent-child attachment or child emotions and behavior.” Not a whole lot of gray area there
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10. i thought Babies are not “designed” to sleep through the night?
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Putting aside our religious beliefs for a moment, I think we can all agree that, even if babies were “designed” somehow, whoever did the designing left plenty of room for some upgrades. Trusting your child’s physiology to dictate their sleep schedule, their eating habits, their behavior, or just about any other aspect of their upbringing is a recipe for disaster.
Our little ones need our expertise and authority to guide them through their early years, and probably will for decades after that. This is especially true when it comes to their sleep. Some babies are naturally gifted sleepers, for sure, but don’t rely on the advice of those who tell you that babies should dictate their schedules. You’re in charge because you know best, even if it may not feel like it sometimes.
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