14/05/2024
Iāve spent my fair share of time on Facebook mum groups over recent years and it seems thereās not a lot we can agree on, breast or bottle? Co-sleeping or solitude? Dummies or comforters? Purees or baby-led weaning? But one thing I do see fairly consistently is the hate towards sleep training. Most recently Iāve seen Instagram influencers posting their success with sleep training, followed by screenshots from other mums making them feel guilty for putting their child through something so traumatic. I get it, I was once an exhausted mum who hated the thought of my kid crying for even 5 seconds. Then I bit the bullet and called in a pro. 3 days later I had a whole new kid, a LOT more patience and so much more to give.
It seems that the only options most parents see available to them are either 1. Answering every peep, hoping if they make it fast enough to bub that theyāll fall back to sleep quickly or 2. Leaving them to wail the night away until everyone in the house is awake and traumatised. Years of the term ācry-it-outā being used as sleep training has us all terrified to even ask for help. Of course, no one wants to leave their child to believe that no one is coming for them, parents have spent this small personās entire life building their trust and securing attachment.
I want to change this.