A must read for any parent wanting the truth about infant sleep training. The whole truth...
A brave and honest mama describes the good, the bad and the ugly of hiring a sleep coach and teaching your baby to sleep.
“Did I know how to help a baby learn how to fall asleep on their own? Ha! Not even close!”
"I love kids and have been around them for years as a dance and school teacher. Transitioning into becoming a mother didn’t seem like it would be that much of a leap… until I had my baby boy and never felt so lost in my life! I know many women are “naturals” when it comes to being a mother, but trust me, I wasn’t one of them! Did I know how to give love and affection? Of course! Did I know how to burp, change diapers, and give baths to a squirmy cute blob? Not really… But most importantly, did I know how to help a baby learn to fall asleep on their own? Ha! Not even close!
I knew that I was setting myself up for disaster when I realized that my husband and I were getting less and less sleep with our 3-month-old. Every time we put our son down we felt like he was a ticking time bomb! I thought to myself I’ll just do some research online and figure out what I need to do - there’s a YouTube video of everything, right? Well, turns out, it doesn’t matter if you know all the information out there or not; if you don’t know how to apply it specifically to your case or how to create a personalized plan for your baby, then you’re going canoeing without a paddle!
After almost a month of trying to do it on my own with no results and his sleep going more and more downhill, I reached out to friends and family. Of course, I was flooded with advice for what worked for other people, but my kid was different, and it left me even more lost! That’s when a friend recommended Michelle to me. At this point, it seemed like the best answer. If you can’t get in shape by yourself, you hire a coach. If you can’t understand a certain subject in school, you hire a tutor. If you can’t get your baby to fall asleep without you spending ten million hours rocking/nursing/patting them? You hire Michelle.
I must be one of the toughest cases that she’s dealt with. I hired her and then immediately regretted it thinking it was too much money and it wasn’t going to work because my son was so upset within the first two days of trying her plan! I’m pretty sure in my state of sleep deprivation I may have been the only person to threaten her with legal action… yaaaa, not proud of that moment, haha! Through all of it though she stayed calm, reassuring, and reminded me of why I sought her help in the first place. She told me that if I didn’t give up on her, she wouldn’t give up on me. That’s exactly what I needed. Someone who wouldn’t give up on a cranky, sleep-deprived first-time mom and her cranky, sleep-deprived son and husband!
Now, this is where the magic happened. I fought her at the beginning swearing that I knew my son needed certain things to go to sleep; “He just needs skin to skin right before bed” or “He’s always hungry right before he goes to sleep” or “He needs his swaddle”. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The first night we took the swaddle off (even though I was terrified), he fell asleep faster than he ever has! One by one Michelle broke down the crutches that I was holding onto. Let me repeat that. The crutches I, the mom was holding onto! Arthur would get so upset at night because I was inhibiting him, not helping him!
After the swaddle night, I just listened to everything she said without complaint. I made mistakes here and there but learned from them and kept trying to do exactly what she suggested. Little by little I started to see my son become more independent and actually seemed HAPPIER because he was getting more sleep and doing it on his own. All of a sudden, I was happier, too, because we were all getting more sleep! Now I have this bright little boy who I saw start the 4-month sleep regression near the end of his training and powered through it beautifully because he knows how to put himself back to sleep. There is nothing more pleasing than hearing your little one wake up, then decide to suck their thumb for a bit and fall right back asleep. On top of that, there’s nothing better than a baby who actually likes to cuddle MORE now because he’s so well rested! He’s happy, sleeps well, eats well, laughs, talks, cuddles… it’s honestly amazing.
If it wasn’t for Michelle I KNOW I would never have made it through this and would still have a sleep deprived little boy forming some terrible sleep habits.
It’s OKAY to need help and to know when to reach out for it. There are professionals in every field and they are there for a reason! Don’t try to power through this on your own thinking that every other mom out there can do it so why can’t you - there are TONS of parents struggling with this issue. Be the brave parent, invest in your baby’s sleep habits, and you will have a well-rested, well-mannered little kid one day that will prove to you, you did the right thing.
Stop reading this reference and just call Michelle already! If you’re reading this, it probably means you are in the same boat I was in.
Blissful sleep for you and your little one is just around the corner :)".
-Holley, mom to baby Arthur