THE SLEEP CHIEF

We teach “controlled comforting” which is where you will stay in the room with your little one to reassure them as they are falling asleep. And for older babies, "controlled crying" which is where you will leave your baby's room for short intervals (starting from 1 minute) and return to reassure. We only recommend introducing one of these settling methods after making sure that your baby’s sleep environment and daytime sleep are working well though, so that we minimise any crying as much as possible and ensure the best chance of success. Our Sleep Programmes guide you through these three areas step-by-step. We do not advocate the “cry it out” method which is leaving your baby’s room and not returning to reassure.

This totally varies from baby to baby but when we are introducing any kind of “change” for our baby crying is a normal reaction. Just like sometimes when you are taking them out of the bath they cry, or when you’re changing their nappy, or getting them into the car seat. It is our job as parents to reassure them through this initial change and friction and by being totally consistent we can show them that this new “normal” is actually quite wonderful for everyone! For babies up to 4 months we are just giving tiny amounts of practice at settling in their crib and staying with them the entire time. It is mostly about getting really great sleep foundations in place for younger babies. For babies over 4 months, the first couple of nights and days there is usually crying and this is the hardest bit of the process. We give you a time limit on that and a “plan B” for what to do if your baby doesn’t settle during the allocated amount of time. So rest assured, this will never be going on for “hours and hours”. Whichever settling method you choose, we introduce it gently at the beginning so that your baby is seeing you for either constant or very frequent reassurance.

The content of the Sleep Programmes is exactly what we cover in our one-to-one consultations and we find that most families will see a huge improvement in sleep within 1-2 weeks. Often, under a week if you are able to follow the plan to a T. If you are wanting to take a gentler approach (controlled comforting) then progress can take longer.

No. We had enough of that during lockdown for a lifetime! One thing we recommend is if you are wanting to work on getting your baby used to napping in their crib or cot that for the first week you aim to do as many naps at home as you can. This way your baby gets practice 2-3 times per day plus practice at bedtime and overnight which means progress happens much quicker as they get “used to” their new sleep environment sooner. This means, crying decreases right down and they are settling happily within 1-2 weeks.

You absolutely don’t “need” to do anything if it doesn’t feel right for you. If feeding to sleep is something you are enjoying currently then it’s totally fine to continue that for as long as it is working for you. Often though, when a baby is relying on something like feeding in order to get to sleep initially, they are then needing that same thing in order to fall BACK to sleep when they are stirring between sleep cycles during the night. So if you are wanting to get longer stretches of sleep happening or work towards your baby sleeping through the night then often that means introducing the skill of independent sleep where your baby will be going into their crib or cot awake and then getting themselves to sleep (just as we do!)

No, you can absolutely still do the sleep training with your baby in your bedroom as long as they are in a cot or crib. The sleep programme is not suitable for if you are co-sleeping and wanting to continue co-sleeping. You don’t need to move your baby into their own room in order to get your baby sleeping well, and we follow the Lullaby Trust’s guidelines on sleeping in the same room as your baby up to the age of 6 months. The "getting them used to falling asleep in their crib or cot" bit is usually the harder bit, the "transitioning them to their own room" bit is usually fairly easy and actually, way more of a big deal for us than it is for them!

The Sleep Programme is a downloadable, interactive PDF and you have lifetime access.

In answer to this question, think of a Sleep Consultant a bit like a Personal Trainer – if you are able to follow their plan then you will absolutely be able to reach your goals. As long as your baby is healthy and you are able to follow the exact guidance in the sleep programme, you will be able to transform your baby’s sleep. We’ve helped over 2000 families to improve sleep and have over 95 five star reviews on Google if you want to read from other parents who have been where you are. If you are unable to follow the plan for whatever reason, that will hinder progress. But you can always pick back up again when you feel ready, and continue. We also offer a 30 day money-back guarantee if you are unable to make progress after implementing our method.