A review of the research on sleep training, including whether sleep training improves sleep, whether it causes stress for infants, and whether it has any long-term impacts
You are exactly right that there is no magic solution to sleep. Maybe I should have used that as the title. Even if something works for awhile, it may not work long term
Thank you for this! I learned so much, and I feel like this provided an amazingly thorough overview of the literature and its implications and limitations. I was so surprised to read that sleep training may not "stick" or continue to improve sleep as kids age. In some ways it's disheartening, that there is no magic method to permanently improve sleep, but I can also imagine that it's very reassuring for parents who didn't or don't want to sleep train, to know that if their toddler is a bad sleeper, it's not necessarily because they did something wrong when helping their baby sleep, in the method that was best for them at the time!
Thank you so much for writing this. I cannot imagine how much time it took to research and write. It is the most thorough research I have ever seen on sleep training. It will be a tremendous resource for parents, as well as home visitors, pediatricians, and anyone who works with parents. I personally advocate that it is the parents' decision as they alone know what their family and baby needs. I was a sleep training mom by necessity. My husband traveled full time so was not at home, I worked full time and was writing my dissertation for my PHD. So the only hours I had to write were from 11pm to 2am every night. I needed my baby to sleep so I could do the work I needed to do. So many people questioned and even ridiculed me, but I knew it was what I had to do.
Wow! Thank you for such a thorough explanation on this! I know so many new moms pressured by their family members to let their babies “cry it out” and I can’t wait to pass this informative piece along to them.
Yes there is so much pressure on new moms and dads around sleep. Much of that pressure comes from family members, friends, and even people they don't even know! But no one knows the specific situation of the parents and baby, except the parents and baby. That is why it is important for parents to have all of the information and make the decision is best for their family.
Thank you for this post! This newsletter just goes to show that research is imperfect, and it looks like parents will have to make their own informed decisions (hopefully ones that also stem from reading this brilliant article)! I would say I am surprised that sleep training may be more of a temporary solution (at least that is how it looks currently), but given how much change infants will experience as they get older, it does make a lot of sense. I hope our society begins to value sleep more (I know I need to for sure). There are many things that get in the way of getting a good night's rest unfortunately sometimes, but information such as this will hopefully help people acknowledge these factors!
We hired a sleep consultant after our 8 month old starting sleeping max 45 min at a time during the night 😵💫 We didn’t sleep train, but she gave us tons of ideas and strategies, mainly around tweaking her daytime schedule and bedtime routine. So it definitely resonated when you were discussing parental support being an important component, regardless of whether you sleep train or not!
We can attest that just having someone (who wasn’t dramatically sleep deprived) give us gentle advice was a game changer.
Also, Dr. Segura was our daughter’s first pediatrician and she’s so lovely! Great to see her name pop up 🥰
Emily, I love that you found someone that gave “gentle advice”. That is my new favorite term! I think it is important for people that work with families to give a variety of ideas and strategies and then let the family choose what works for them.
Such an important piece! My baby did not sleep well, and the pediatrician suggested cry-it-out. I tried, and I vividly remember bawling while holding on the doorknob of the closed bedroom door and preventing myself from comforting my crying baby (6mo). I think that stress was harsher than the stress from "camping out." I compromised to "checking in" method with occasionally mixing in "camping out" (because I also fell asleep). What I did not know at that time was there's no ABSOLUTE optimal method, and I was judged anyway, whether I choose "cry-it-out," "checking-in," or "camping out." Help parents, don't judge! 😉
You are exactly right that there is no magic solution to sleep. Maybe I should have used that as the title. Even if something works for awhile, it may not work long term
Thank you for this! I learned so much, and I feel like this provided an amazingly thorough overview of the literature and its implications and limitations. I was so surprised to read that sleep training may not "stick" or continue to improve sleep as kids age. In some ways it's disheartening, that there is no magic method to permanently improve sleep, but I can also imagine that it's very reassuring for parents who didn't or don't want to sleep train, to know that if their toddler is a bad sleeper, it's not necessarily because they did something wrong when helping their baby sleep, in the method that was best for them at the time!
Thank you so much for writing this. I cannot imagine how much time it took to research and write. It is the most thorough research I have ever seen on sleep training. It will be a tremendous resource for parents, as well as home visitors, pediatricians, and anyone who works with parents. I personally advocate that it is the parents' decision as they alone know what their family and baby needs. I was a sleep training mom by necessity. My husband traveled full time so was not at home, I worked full time and was writing my dissertation for my PHD. So the only hours I had to write were from 11pm to 2am every night. I needed my baby to sleep so I could do the work I needed to do. So many people questioned and even ridiculed me, but I knew it was what I had to do.
Thank you for sharing your story. That is a perfect example of why sleep decisions are so personal. I hope you eventually got some sleep yourself!!
Wow! Thank you for such a thorough explanation on this! I know so many new moms pressured by their family members to let their babies “cry it out” and I can’t wait to pass this informative piece along to them.
Yes there is so much pressure on new moms and dads around sleep. Much of that pressure comes from family members, friends, and even people they don't even know! But no one knows the specific situation of the parents and baby, except the parents and baby. That is why it is important for parents to have all of the information and make the decision is best for their family.
Thank you for this post! This newsletter just goes to show that research is imperfect, and it looks like parents will have to make their own informed decisions (hopefully ones that also stem from reading this brilliant article)! I would say I am surprised that sleep training may be more of a temporary solution (at least that is how it looks currently), but given how much change infants will experience as they get older, it does make a lot of sense. I hope our society begins to value sleep more (I know I need to for sure). There are many things that get in the way of getting a good night's rest unfortunately sometimes, but information such as this will hopefully help people acknowledge these factors!
Great point that we need to be a society that values sleep more for everyone--parents, babies, students, and adults!
We hired a sleep consultant after our 8 month old starting sleeping max 45 min at a time during the night 😵💫 We didn’t sleep train, but she gave us tons of ideas and strategies, mainly around tweaking her daytime schedule and bedtime routine. So it definitely resonated when you were discussing parental support being an important component, regardless of whether you sleep train or not!
We can attest that just having someone (who wasn’t dramatically sleep deprived) give us gentle advice was a game changer.
Also, Dr. Segura was our daughter’s first pediatrician and she’s so lovely! Great to see her name pop up 🥰
Emily, I love that you found someone that gave “gentle advice”. That is my new favorite term! I think it is important for people that work with families to give a variety of ideas and strategies and then let the family choose what works for them.
Such an important piece! My baby did not sleep well, and the pediatrician suggested cry-it-out. I tried, and I vividly remember bawling while holding on the doorknob of the closed bedroom door and preventing myself from comforting my crying baby (6mo). I think that stress was harsher than the stress from "camping out." I compromised to "checking in" method with occasionally mixing in "camping out" (because I also fell asleep). What I did not know at that time was there's no ABSOLUTE optimal method, and I was judged anyway, whether I choose "cry-it-out," "checking-in," or "camping out." Help parents, don't judge! 😉