What Is Gentle Sleep Training?
It’s actually a little bit hard to explain exactly how gentle sleep training works. Honestly, I don’t really like the term “sleep training” either. It implies a forced kind of environment that doesn’t leave room for individualism. I prefer to call it learning “self-sleeping skills”. So whenever I refer to gentle sleep training throughout this article, know that it’s not my interpretation of the word, it’s information about the topic itself. Some sleep consultants may class their gentle sleep training as methods that involve little to no tears. Others may decide that their methods can include tears but allow for periodic comfort throughout the sleep training (self-sleeping) process. With Sleep Sweet Sleep Deep, I always take into account the parents’ wishes and will never force anything that makes baby feel anxious or could potentially turn sleep time into an emotional trigger for them. There are a lot of different ways for baby to learn self-sleeping skills in a gentle way, but as a mother myself, I rely on my instincts to know what works and what doesn’t for a particular baby. It’s all about a tailored approach.
When can babies start gentle sleep training?
Honestly, gently training a baby to use self-sleeping skills can start at any point. It’s actually a good idea to start it earlier rather than later. That way your bub will be learning as they go through vital developments both physically and mentally. The lessons they learn as growing babies can help cement good habits in future. Also, if you’re finding it hard to cope, as parents, with your baby’s out-of-whack sleep patterns then helping your baby learn to self-sleep in a gentle, loving way could be a wonderful option.
Why is teaching self-sleep skills in a gentle way a good idea?
It is a great idea as opposed to other harsher sleep training methods like “crying it out”, for instance. In learning self-sleeping skills, baby isn’t left in a state of fear and anxiety to figure it out for themselves. They are guided gently through learning how to be their own sleep expert and gain confidence to sleep sweetly and deeply through the night. They’ll be sleep pros in no time!
Remember, if you need any help at all getting that sweet, deep sleep we’re all looking for, let me know and I’ll be happy to book you in for a consultation x