Does this program include crying?
If you’re feeling nervous about your baby or child crying in this process, I get it! I have been there and it’s not easy! And if you’re caring enough to look for sleep solutions for your child, I can already tell that, like me, you love your little one to the ends of the earth. In your sleep plan, I will provide you with two options when it comes to coaching methods, both of which will likely involve some crying. However, both will offer you specific step-by-step instructions on how to support your child, and mitigate tears as much as possible. I will also be happy to chat through information and studies that have shown that there has been no evidence that short-term tears with consistent support and reassurance are harmful to a child in an otherwise happy, healthy household. Nor do they even cause a big stress response! And I will be right by your side to answer any questions you have and provide advice and encouragement any time you need it!
What if my child still needs to eat overnight?
That’s okay! I will not ask you to reject overnight feeds. Instead, I will teach you how to understand the difference between what is truly hunger and what is for help back to sleep and how to respond appropriately. Most little ones I have worked with end up naturally dropping overnight feeds between 4-8 months simply because they do not need them to help them back to sleep (they know how to do that all on their own now!) If you need to continue to feed your child in the middle of the night, you can absolutely still teach them independent sleep.
What if the only way my child will sleep is by (insert sleep association here)?
I’ve seen it all! The Snoo, co-sleeping, rocking, feeding, bouncing, all of them at the same time, the car seat, the stroller, twirling your hair, the paci… you get it. Trust me when I say that healthy children do not need any of those things to help them to sleep. They just simply don’t know HOW to sleep without them! And/or they have just become accustomed to the current pattern. If your child is otherwise healthy and developing regularly according to their pediatrician, they are capable of learning independent sleep.