A child sleeping through the night is really the turning point for the hard days of having an infant. Life gets much, much easier when everyone is well-rested. How do you get there? First of all, everyone naturally wakes at night every so often between sleep cycles. “Sleeping through the night” indicates that your child can wake, realize all of their needs are met, and put him or herself back to sleep without your assistance. To make that happen, they need the opportunity to learn to fall asleep independently. This can be done through any variety of methods, but is most successful when an age-appropriate method is paired with the ideal daytime schedule, and baby’s personality and temperament are also taken into consideration. Weaning away from any nighttime feeding should always be cleared by your child’s pediatrician, but once you have the all-clear, it is a matter of consistency and a well-planned sleep plan.

First of all, it is important to know that we all wake at night. It is a natural part of every human’s sleep rhythm to occasionally rouse from light sleep and spend a short time awake before falling back to sleep.

The difference is in whether or not your child’s needs are met. And by this, I mean two different things:

1) your baby may be truly hungry, or possibly too warm or too cool, be teething, or experiencing some separation anxiety. These things happen and be quite disruptful to your child’s sleep.

2) Your child may be dependent on some sort of prop to fall asleep. Nursing, rocking, pacifier, a bottle, whatever it is- your child feels that they “need” it in order to get back to sleep in the middle of the night. Thus, they cry and you respond by fulfilling that “need.”

If you want them to cry less often at night, they need to have the opportunity to practice falling asleep independently, so that they can apply that skill when they wake between sleep cycles at night.

This is true in most cases. There are always children who fall outside the range of normal and may be experiencing extraneous and hard-to-pinpoint issues. If you think something deeper is going on, always consult with your child’s pediatrician.

Before a baby is about 5-6 months old, it is very common for naps to stay short. Many babies don’t fall into a pattern of predictable naps until that 6-month mark.

Some babies are genuinely just cat-nappers and there isn’t a thing we can do about it.

But, for 95% of babies older than six months of age, the answer to this is independent sleep. Daytime sleep is light, and not powered by melatonin, darkness, and a high pressure to sleep. So, for naps to lengthen, your little one needs to be able to connect more than one sleep cycle without your help.

Even then, it can take time for naps to “click” and begin to lengthen. Be patient and consistent, and soon you’ll have a great napper on your hands.

Absolutely not. This is one of the most unfortunate misconceptions out there about sleep training. You do not have to night wean. You will need to discontinue nursing to sleep if you want an independent sleeper who can give you some glorious, long stretches of sleep at night, but if your child is genuinely hungry, he or she will definitely let you know. Further, it is well beyond my pay grade to advise on diet and weight gain. Check with your pediatrician about night feeds and then we can discuss how to proceed. If you want to keep a feed or two, that’s great, too. Whatever your sleep goals are, I can help you get there.

Another nope! For one, if parents were comfortable with crying it out, would sleep coaching be a profession? No way! What I can offer you as a sleep expert is a variety of methods that do not include closing the nursery door and walking away. Some tough love may be in order in certain cases, but never crying it out. I do everything I can to make the sleep training process as gentle and smooth as possible for baby and parents, alike.

I begin taking clients for customized sleep plans at right around 16-weeks of age, maybe just a shade sooner if you really need help fast.

The reason is that newborn sleep is simply so unpredictable, and while there is plenty you can do to promote healthy and independent sleep habits from the very start, your child won’t be ready for a real schedule until around 4 months old.

That said, the sooner you begin practicing independent sleep, the easier it will be down the road. You may avoid sleep training altogether! I love when clients come to me right around 4-months because we can be incredibly gentle on your little one while still encouraging the great sleeper every parent hopes for.

Download your free readiness assessment here.

Probably not. Every child will eventually potty train. Surely you won’t send that stubborn child off to college needing a treat every time they potty. It just seems impossible some days, though, I know! Your child probably is not too stubborn. Many times the truth is that they are too smart, and dig their heels in to avoid doing something they just don’t want to do. The great news is that if your child is smart enough to protest potty training or deliberately use a diaper over the toilet, they are usually also quite ready for training. My plan helps get your smart child to buy-in to the process and make it feel more like their idea and not something mom and dad are fighting to do. Get on the same team, work together, accomplish a huge childhood goal together. I can help! Download my e-book here or book a consultation for support!

Due to the amount of time, effort, and commitment that go into each and every consultation, there are no refunds issued after a package is booked.

That said, I have never had a family who followed the plan (sleep or potty training!) not show any improvement at all, and nearly 100% have walked away very pleased with their consultation. Unfortunately, there is also no way for me to know if a family has honestly followed through on their side of the consultation, and consistency and commitment are essential to your success.

Furthermore, I do everything possible to see you through to success. I will pull out every trick in the book to try to help you see the improvements you seek, and therein lies the benefit of a personalized consultation. Being able to track your child’s response to the plan and adjust accordingly in real time is the great value of hiring Mother Together. A generic plan is lovely, but it does not adapt to your child’s unique needs. I am confident that you will not regret your investment.

Sleep is like a puzzle, and if any piece of the puzzle is missing, it will yield disappointing results. You can read blogs and sleep advice all day long and go the DIY-route for sleep training, but don’t be surprised if something is missing. Typically, they have tried a method or two, Googled a bit about wake times, and jumped in. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn’t.

For every family I meet and work with, I collect a ton of information and data on their current sleep situation to figure out which pieces of the puzzle are out of place. Then, I work to rearrange those pieces in such a way that the family is happy and their child starts to sleep their best.

This is precisely why I offer customized sleep support. Every child is different and one-size-fits-all advice on the internet may fall short. Having an expert who can bring not only education but a wealth of experience to your family’s situation is an investment in your wellness and in your little one.

If you think support may be right for your family, check out the variety of sleep packages I offer here.

First of all, rule out any surprise medical changes. Teething? Tummy ache? Ear infection? All can disrupt sleep for several night. See a pediatrician as needed and seek advice for managing pain.

If you know that the regression is a result of a life change, like a move or starting daycare, then respond with love and lots of extra daytime attention. We always want your little one’s bucket to be full.

In many other cases, a regression should bring attention to the need for a schedule change. Shorter or fewer naps, more wake time, less wake time- something needs to change with their sleep schedule.

Once you are confident their needs are met and their schedule is in place, go back to consistently working with whichever method you used when you sleep trained in the first place. Good things don’t last forever without some occasional upkeep, but a once-sleep-trained-baby is usually quick to get right back on track once you begin to reestablish those expectations.

If you find yourself stuck at a roadblock and your once-great sleeper is giving you a real run for your money, check out my returning client tune-up package. It is designed for families with sleep trained children who understand the basics of sleep but need to get to the root of the problems and support getting back on track.

I never ever want finances to be the barrier between your family and sleep. We were there not long ago and when my oldest was a horrible sleeper, I couldn’t bring myself to pay for it, as desperately as we needed it. This is why I feel passionately about finding a way to make it work. I offer a variety of package options to meet your price point. If even those seem like a stretch, please send me a message- I am genuinely open to discussing a way to provide support with no judgment. If we can arrange a payment plan, that’s great. If I can work out a discount, I will. Don’t let the cost be the reason your family remains exhausted.