Sleep training is using sleep methods to help your child learn to put themselves to sleep. This gives your child the ability to fall asleep on their own without needing your assistance! As a sleep consultant, I am here to support you and guide you and your child to great sleep!

Sleep like all skills in infancy is a learned skill! Just like rolling, crawling, talking, walking, ect!

Sleep training helps your child to learn that skill well and be independent in their ability to sleep.

Sleep is so important for children. Through sleep we build our immune systems, learn new skills, and grow! Infancy is our brains fastest growing time! Sleep is so important at this age to learn those new skills and for brain development and health.

Sleep is also so important for parents. Sleep deprivation has similar effects to cognitive ability as intoxication. For us to stay healthy, think clearly and be the best we can for our kids, we need sleep too!

Good sleep and sleep habits are so important for children’s health and development and our own health and safety as parents!

With so much information on sleep, daily schedules, and advice for sleep, why work with a sleep consultant? 

As a sleep consultant I can build a customized sleep plan and daily schedule that suits your family’s needs, lifestyle, child’s age and development stage and personality. I can evaluate your needs, child’s personality, and what you currently do for sleep to tailor the best sleep plan for your child and daily schedule to accommodate your daily life. During the time I work with you, I will adjust the plan as needed and support, encourage and help you stay on track to build healthy sleep. In a little as two weeks, your child can be sleeping well at night and for naps even with daycare! I am there to help troubleshoot issues as they arise such as early morning waking, rejecting naps, and refusing to fall asleep. With one on one support, I can help you stay on track to build your child’s healthy sleeping habits! 

No! It is one method of sleep training but not one that I believe in.

While there is usually some crying, you are there to support your child while they learn this new skill of sleep! I promote more gentle methods with parent involvement and support. Your child will not feel abandoned as they know you are there!

Crying while learning a new habit or skill in infancy is okay! Crying is how infants and children communicate that they are uncomfortable. Learning a new skill is uncomfortable, even for adults! But not all change is bad change, healthy sleep habits are good change. We do not want our children to hold in their emotions, it is good for them to express them! As they learn to fall asleep on their own, they will become comfortable with the new sleep habits and no longer cry. It is temporary!

Our bodies need, anticipate, and can grow from the experience of stress. However, some stressors can be harmful, and it's important to understand what this looks like. There are three types of stress levels - positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress.

Positive stress refers to short-lived, mild-to-moderate stressful events in which a parent or caregiver assists to help a child get through the stressful event.

Positive stress often includes physiological changes such as elevated heart rate and elevated levels of cortisol. This is where it's important to understand that cortisol is in and of itself not a bad word! It's our body's way of coping with stress, even if that means just nerves about a big event. Crying is an expression of this stress!

Examples of positive stress in early childhood: Becoming acclimated to a new caregiver, Doctor visits/vaccinations, Meeting new people, Swim lessons, Crying in the car seat

Tolerable stress refers to a longer and more severely stressful event in which the child has a physiological and biochemical response that could cause lasting damage.

Examples of tolerable stress in early childhood: Death of a loved one, Divorce, Severe accident, Being hospitalized.

Toxic stress refers to extreme stress without attachment or the accessibility of a loving caregiver to help the body return to a baseline after the stress response.

Examples of toxic stress in early childhood: Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, Extreme neglect, Extreme poverty, Violence and household dysfunction, Food scarcity/starvation

As you can see, the category in which a child learns to fall asleep in their sleep space with the response of a loving caregiver would CLEARLY fall into the positive stress category. This is also confirmed by the very real and measurable effects of toxic stress. Children who have experienced toxic stress have several social, emotional, and physical scars as they move through life