Is Sleep Training Safe?

With every new client, I send an onboarding questionnaire. This questionnaire gives me a great insight into what is currently going on for them sleep-wise. I ask questions about their child’s usual temperament, their daily routines, what an ideal night looks like, what their sleep goals are, and what their worst night looks like. One final thing I ask, is if they have any questions or concerns about moving forward with sleep training?

The majority of the time, this question is answered like this…

“NO! But we NEED sleep ASAP. Please help.”

But sometimes, the question is answered like this:

“I’m worried that sleep training is going to cause emotional damage and that it will affect my connection with my child. I don’t want there to be any long-term lasting effects from sleep training.”

Comments like this make me sad, but also give me a chance to educate my clients about what exactly we’re doing when it comes to sleep training. It’s clear to me that there are TONS of negative sleep training sources out there. People who have had horrible experiences while sleep training their children and from sharing their stories, it’s making other parents fearful.

One thing I want you to remember, is that there will be bad experiences among the BEST in the profession. You might LOVE your dentist, but someone else might have had a scary experience with them. You might have had a horrible experience with a chiropractor, but you see his name recommended on social media over and over again. You might love your therapist, but they weren’t helpful to your friend when they went.

These are just a few examples of how our experiences can differ from our peers.

With that in mind, let’s talk about sleep training! Is it safe?

Sleep training is the process of teaching your baby how to sleep independently by utilizing (and developing) their self-soothing skills. Self-soothing can look different for every baby, but a few examples of self-soothing are:

• thumb-sucking or finger-sucking

• rocking their head back and forth on the mattress

• rolling around the crib to find the perfect spot

• rubbing their soft hand along their face

We all have natural wakes in our sleep cycles. As we transition from one sleep cycle to the next, it can be common to have a short wake up. As an adult with NO sleep problems, I am not even aware of these wake ups - but I can assure you they are still happening.

Babies are the same! They have natural wakes in their sleep cycles, but if they depend on a prop to fall asleep, then they are going to expect the same sleep prop in order to put themselves to sleep.

The purpose of sleep training is to teach our children how to self-soothe so that when they do wake in the night (they will - I promise), they will be able to roll over and put themselves back to sleep without you even knowing.

When it comes to sleep training, there are 4 main methods. Each method is different, but allows the child some time to figure out how to fall asleep on their own - thus making it easier to do it over and over again.

When set up in the proper safe sleep environment and from getting approval from your Paediatrician, sleep training is absolutely SAFE. Teaching your child how to sleep through the night does not cause emotional trauma or damage. Throughout the process of sleep training, you are checking in on your child, or sitting right there with them as they learn something new. It is a learning curve for both you and them, but the only lasting effects from it are the restful nights that follow.

This study is a 5 year follow-up after sleep training and what it shows is that there was no difference between the children who were sleep trained and those who weren’t. There were a variety of areas studied that include: parental attachment, emotional and behavioural scores, and stress levels.

As long as you are following the steps for safe sleep, your child is set up in their own sleep space, and you have a plan of action - you are set!

If you’d like some help putting that plan of action together, that’s what I’m here for. All day long I help parents get their children sleeping well and through the night. Let’s chat to see how I can help YOU!

Bailey