3 Ways You Could Be Sabotaging Sleep Training (and not know it!)

17+ months

Apr 29, 2020

Did you know there are certain things you can do that can would absolutely sabotage your sleep training journey? You may not be intentionally doing them, but they’re happening behind the scenes and I don’t want you to fail! So today I’m going to expose how you are potentially self-sabotaging your sleep training journey.

 ISSUE #1: PARTNERS NOT ON THE SAME PAGE

A few years ago a Dad hired me, while stationed in the Middle East no less, to come help his family get their baby to sleep. The night that I arrived I quickly got the idea that Mom had NO idea what I was doing there. So needless to say there was screaming from Mom to me, screaming from Dad to Mom…it was UGLY.

When you’re ready to sleep train, we really do need EVERYONE who will be a part of the process on board. Otherwise, sleep training is simply unfair to the entire family. Whether it’s mom and dad, mom and grandmother…doesn’t matter! You need to have a heart to heart conversation before starting any sleep training program to make sure you’re all on the same page.

If you’re not on the same page it’s okay. Let’s work through it and talk through it. I want you to sit down and look at each other to answer these questions:

What will it mean when my child sleeps through the night?

What does it mean for your job?

What does it mean for your relationship?

What does it mean for the child?

This a question that I ask every family in my Sleep E-Coachingâ„¢ Programs. There’s an entire goals page that you need to reflect on to ensure that we’re all doing this for the same reason.

Come to this conclusion on WHY you are sleep training, talk to your partner and caregivers about why you want to begin this program. Getting on the same page will avoid an all-out battle on Night One of sleep training.

ISSUE #2: NO CHERRY-PICKING THE PLAN!

Inconsistency is the worst! If your start sleep training and think:

Let’s do this…but not that…and some of this…but we won’t do this thank you!

When you choose what YOU want to implement from a sleep training program, you won’t see success. No matter what sleep training method you choose, you have to implement the entire process 100%!

A few years ago I was sitting in my car talking with a client on the phone. I scanned over her log and was loving what I saw! 12 hours of all night sleep, perfect naps…everything was great!!! Why was this mom not sounding so happy and excited too?! WELL. Turns out she never took the pacifier away, and had neglected to tell me this…and neglected to log that her child was waking multiple times a night screaming, and she would simply go give the pacifier back.

So literally everything we had worked for, and the investment she spent to work with me 1:1 was all for nothing because she didn’t implement my plan!!!! SO FRUSTRATING. Not just for me as a Sleep Consultant who was hired to come help, but from the baby’s perspective too! She was putting the baby down in the crib independently at bedtime, but then offering the pacifier when baby cried longer than 10 minutes at night. Totally confusing for the kid!!

When I give families a plan, I need you to implement everything to a tee! Sleep training is not the time when you get to decide how you want to do this. You’re coming to me for help…so let’s stick to the plan!! Stay committed, stay the course and even if you don’t trust it yet, remember that sleep training is a process. Not an event. It takes time, so stick to the plan to see your results.

ISSUE #3: FAILURE TO USE A SLEEP LOG

Just like a weight loss journal, you are not going to feel or see the results is you’re not tracking what’s going on! When you take time to see what was happening at the beginning, and what’s happening now you’re going to feel SO encouraged.

Keeping a sleep log is a huge part of sleep training. It’s important to know how many nightwakings, how long did it take to fall asleep, how long naps are and taking in the entire process. Sleep training is HOLISTIC. Everything goes together and is a massive puzzle. When you’re keeping track you’ll find patterns like: “Oh look! A great day of naps means a fuller night of sleep.” OR “I see when my child goes to bed too late they wake up early.”

All of these fine details can only be found when you’re logging things! So let’s make this easy on you!!! Get my FREE sleep logs by entering your email here, and I’ll send you my entire selection of sleep logs for 5 naps all the way to no naps.

I know you may LOVE your apps, but I’m telling you there’s nothing better than paper when you’re sleep training. Especially when you have other caretakers on board who can also see what’s going on and stay in the loop.

Tracking your child’s progress makes it really easy to also celebrate your small wins and look forward to what’s to come. During your sleep training you’ll be putting all the pieces together and be motivated to continue the program!

MAKING SLEEP A THING!

If you’re ready to start making sleep a thing for your family but wondering where you should get started…gotcha covered!!! Take this quick quiz to find the right program to get started on.

Make sure you’re subscribed to Little Z’s Sleep YouTube so you won’t miss a video, and comment below sharing your thoughts about sleep training sabotage. Did I miss anything?!

Sweet dreams, ya’ll!!

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