Sleep Training: What are the benefits?
I want to share my personal experience with sleep training with you. At this time 3 years ago, I was sleep deprived and I mean really, really sleep deprived. I’m pretty sure at one point, I put my keys in the freezer thinking it was my key hook. Before having my baby, I thought I could handle it. I remember being very pregnant with my son thinking “I’m already and so tired from tossing and turning all night and getting up to pee, how bad could it be?” I was very WRONG.
Believe me, I wanted more than anything in the world to be a mother, but nothing prepared me for how truly exhausting it was going to be. I thought my husband and I would be great at handling the lack of sleep. I had always worked with children and young babies and my husband was one of those people who could function on 4-5 hours of sleep. I figured we were the perfect pair but the thing about having a baby is that there is no time to “catch up” on lost sleep. You are constantly in a cycle of not sleeping which makes it really hard to feel good, have mental clarity and make sound decisions. These are just a few of the things that are deeply effected by lack of sleep.
The Benefits of Sleep
Sleep helps our baby’s brains develop.
Studies show that baby’s who have uninterrupted night sleep have higher cognitive scores.
Babies who sleep at night have been found to have been found to be “more approachable, adaptable and less distractible.”
Consolidated night sleep lowers cortisol levels (the stress hormone) of both mother and baby.
My Sleep Training Story
At 6 months, we decided to sleep train my son. Within just two nights, he was sleeping 12 hours a night without waking for any feedings. I still cannot fathom how my husband and I lived for 6 months with a baby who woke up every 2 hours, but I can tell you that teaching him to sleep through the night was life changing. Sleep was the answer for us. My son, Jackson, was a happy baby with a secure attachment to his parents and my husband and I were able to be the Mom and Dad that he deserved.
What Does the Research Say?
This research reviews 52 treatment studies. The outcome of this research shows that not only does sleep training work, but it also improves the well-being of the entire family unit. Now, maybe you’re feeling like I was and are still a little hesitant. I need you to read this and then read it again.
Research shows that sleep training does not negatively impact parent-child attachment.
Lack of sleep is stressful on our bodies and effects our mental cognition. It impairs our decision making ability, our reflexes and impacts our mood in a very large way. In fact, this research shows the dramatic impact that sleep training has on both mother and baby.
“Maternal stress moderately decreased over the first month of sleep training. Infant stress, measured by salivary cortisol levels, was slightly lower in the infants in the sleep training groups. The security of child-parent attachment was not different among the sleep training or non-sleep training groups.”
In short, mothers of babies, who were sleeping well, were experiencing less stress and anxiety and babies, who were sleeping well, experienced less stress. Additionally. families, who used sleep training, didn’t show any difference in their security and attachment.
Everything that I do to help mothers and babies on their sleep journey is based on evidences\ based practices.
For my family and for so many families that I’ve worked with, sleep training is life-changing. That is why I offer sleep packages for ages 0-5.
Now, I do want to acknowledge that sleep training is not for every family. That is ok. Many of my resources on social media do not include sleep training and can still be informative for you and your little one.
If you need help, I’m here. I would love to help you and your babe on their sleep journey. You can book a free consultation with me and we can get you sleeping in no time. You do not have to walk this journey alone.
