Absolutely, YES! Studies show that at least 60-75% of parents will bed share at some point. Keeping this in mind, as a holistic sleep consultant, I take pride in making sure that I respect preferences and cultural norms such as bed sharing and approach every family with each of their needs in mind. However, my ultimate goal is to educate families on how to bed-share safely to reduce the risk of SIDS.

There are two things to keep in mind when it comes to teething:

The first thing is to make sure teething is actually occurring. At around 3 months of age, babies’ salivary glands start to develop which means they will often start to chew on their hands, and drool. People tend to think their baby is starting to cut a tooth, when in reality it is just a normal part of their development!

Once we know that teething is actually occurring, the second thing to keep in mind is how teething affects sleep. Studies have shown that teething causes no significant reductions in overall duration of sleep but a few days before a tooth erupts or on the day of eruption, sleep awakenings are more common.

After going over these two things, I always tell parents that sleep training can start when teething is occurring BUT expectations for successful sleep training during the window of actual teething (the few days before, during, and after tooth eruption ~ 8 days) should be lowered.

REMEMBER: Overtired babies do not handle discomfort (i.e. teething) well, so keeping them as well rested as we can is important. Overall, it is NEVER too late to start sleep training your child, whether before, during, or after the many bouts of teething they will experience the first few years of their life.

Helping your child learn and maintain healthy sleep habits in a loving and mindful way is just one way to encourage a deep bond. No matter which sleep training method you choose, we always encourage parents to use the pre-bedtime routine to snuggle up and enjoy their baby, including feeding or rocking – just not all the way to sleep.

Fussiness and crying during the sleep training is absolutely normal and not a bad thing! Crying is your child’s main form of communication when they are little, so objections by your little one during the sleep training process is absolutely normal!

Also, there are no studies that show sleep training to be detrimental to a child’s emotional well-being nor does it show any breaks in the child-parent bond. Actually, it shows the complete opposite! If you are interested in reading up on further research about the benefits of sleep training, send me an email at anochoasanchez@sleep-a-byebaby.com

This is very true! Many parents may resort to rocking and feeding to sleep, and other soothing techniques to get their babies to sleep – which is always a great time to bond! However, this can lead to some serious sleep deprivation once you are beyond the newborn stage.  Sleep deprivation to that degree is not good for anyone, especially parents dealing with postpartum anxiety, depression and anger.

That is a BIG no! This method, also known as extinction, has been tied directly to sleep training for YEARS, and even though there may be reasons why certain families may choose this method, this is NOT the only method. There are around 10 sleep training methods that I recommend for my clients, and I choose one or two based off your preferences as a parent and your little one’s temperament.

Depending on what package you choose, I can be there for as little or for as much support as you and your little one needs! I will always supply your family with a customized sleep plan and depending on the package you choose, I will be available for phone calls, in-app direct voice and text messaging support, and even virtual and in-home support for those mamas that are really in need of a lot of hand-holding! The choice is yours mama!

At the end of the day, my main goal is to help you not only get through the sleep training process BUT actually enjoy it and gain some life-changing knowledge! I will be your NUMBER 1 cheerleader and supporter!