Proceed with caution if…

Keeping with this week’s theme, this post from @wholechildco sums it up perfectly:

My practice is centred around informed choice. My intention is to educate, equip and instill confidence in parents so they can make decisions that feel best for their family.

When it comes to sleep support, proceed with caution with:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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1. One-size-fits-all approaches. We know that no two children are the same – different sleep total needs, health histories, nutritional requirements, temperaments + more. Be on the lookout for methods that put your baby in a one-size-fits-all bubble + don’t actually take the time to get to know your family.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2. Promises to have your baby sleeping through the night in x numbers of days – dig in + learn how this is possible. This is the same with adult weight loss programs or anyone trying to sell you something and promising a timeline without knowing anything about you. It is extremely unlikely, even if labelled gentle, you will find this promise + not find some version of leaving your baby alone to cry and removal of overnight nutrition attached to it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. FEAR-inducing or shame-inducing selling techniques. This is huge. If you are being told your baby’s development is at risk if not sleeping through the night, that your baby must learn to self-soothe/be independent or you’ll end up managing this for years to come, that sleep training will make you a better mother (yup, you read that correctly) or that you are risking your own health, relationship with your partner etc. by not sleep training……run.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
4. Getting bombarded with research that the particular sleep method isn’t harmful to your baby as a selling point. This is a major red flag for me. You may want to take a deeper dive into what the research is saying and why there is a need to prove something isn’t harmful.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
5. And of course, any support that doesn’t create space for your instincts to lead the way.