Here is yet another myth perpetuated by the sleep training industry:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀To put it simply, this is entirely false.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀If it were true, babies would only ever be able to go to sleep with one person. In one environment. […]
We live in a world where we try our best to control everything that goes on around us. Schedules, deadlines, and performance drive so much of our western society. Being very type A myself, I totally get the comfort in the predictability of a controlled environment. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀But if there is anything that parenthood has taught […]
“You need to let your baby learn to self soothe.” “If your baby throws up, clean up the mess but don’t make eye contact.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“If you help your baby too much, she will never learn to be independent.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“Cuddling your baby will create a crutch.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Now replace “your baby” with “your grandmother”, and we’ll see if the statements […]
“𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Ever heard this saying? It’s super popular among sleep trainers, who are constantly pushing the notion that all sleep troubles can be solved by getting your child to sleep more, because surely – they are overtired. And for many kids, this 𝘪𝘴 true. Some kids are definitely higher sleep needs children, not just […]
One of the (many) repercussions I noticed with our baby when we were in the midst of the sleep training process was that she oscillated between extremely clingy, and incredibly distant throughout the day. Sleep training had taught her that she needed to hold on for dear life when she knew separation was headed her […]
When my oldest was 6 months and we made the mistake of going down the sleep training rabbit hole, the sleep trainer we worked with told us that the only way we would ever get “good naps” was to do something called crib hour, which went something like this:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do nap routine, put baby in […]
Let’s talk about one of my most frequently asked questions: At what age can I begin to sleep train? The short answer is, I NEVER recommend making any kind of sleep changes that encourage using separation based techniques, so technically, I don’t recommend sleep training at any age!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The long answer is that, under 9 months […]
Just like so many families, we believed sleep training was what “good” parents did to help their baby sleep better. Even though it felt wrong from the get-go, we pushed our feelings aside and did the “hard work” of sleep training. First we tried a “gentle” method, and were then urged by the sleep consultant […]
Swaddling is one of the most common pieces of advice new parents are given, but this dated practice has become more controversial in recent years.
