Today, I'm going to be talking
about sleep training.
This is such a loaded topic,
and there's so much different advice
and information out there.
So, that's why I'm answering your sleep question,
if I sleep train my little one,
how long is it going to take to see a result?
Please stay tuned
because I'm going to talk about all things sleep training,
and I'm going to give you a rough timeline
on how long this may take.
Hi, my name's Josephine Cavallo
and I'm a sleep expert at Little Ones.
I'm a mother to two beautiful, little girls
and I've also got one little one
on the way.
At Little Ones,
we've helped over 200,000 families worldwide
achieve great sleep.
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There's so many different reasons
on why a parent may choose
to sleep train their little one.
You may want to sleep train
to improve your little one's day nap,
their night sleep.
You may just want to improve
their overall settling for naps.
If you are looking to improve your little one's sleep,
I'm here to tell you that sleep training
may not be the first step.
At Little Ones, we look at the big picture.
So, we make sure that everything else is in order
before we even touch on sleep training,
because we've seen it time and time again,
just by tweaking some naps,
tweaking their feeding schedule,
or picking up some underlying issues,
that can improve your baby's sleep automatically.
And then self-settling can be something
that you can pick up down the track.
So, that's my tip number one,
is just to check and ensure all of our ducks are in a row
before we work on self-settling,
because when we are talking
about how long it's going to take,
this is going to be a big factor.
Here are some factors that we like
to take into consideration
before working on sleep training.
We consider the age of your little one
the current nap routine that they're in,
the current room environment,
their feeding schedule,
and we look at any possible underlying issues,
because if you are fairly new to little ones
and you are wanting to improve their sleep right away,
and you definitely know
that there's a settling issue there,
it wouldn't be our first step.
We would check off all of those factors first,
and then we would feel super confident,
ensure that, yes, our little one
is perfectly ready to learn to self-settle.
So, that's my tip number one
is to check that all of our ducks are in a row
before working on self-settling,
because I can guarantee
if your little one is perfectly ready for sleep,
self-settling is going to come quicker
than what you think.
Now, the other top factor
is the age of your little one.
Because I know from experience,
if we are teaching, say,
a four, five-month-old to self-settle,
and then we're teaching a 12-month-old plus to self-settle,
they're going to take different timelines.
So, if your little one is quite a younger baby
say, three, four, five, six months old,
you may see results within the week,
because a baby this age,
they do get the hang of it really, really quickly.
Their sleep association isn't so strong usually.
We can sort of use an approach
that is age-appropriate,
and it generally latches on really, really quickly
if we stay consistent.
So, in my experience, my first child,
we were using Little Ones right from newborn age.
So, she was in a nice, consistent sleep pattern.
We had a room environment all set up,
so she was perfectly ready for sleep time.
We implemented the Little One's side-settle method.
So, with this method,
we could pat my daughter's bum
to get her to sleep.
Around three to four months old,
I noticed a change in my daughter's sleep.
She was starting to wake fully
between each sleep cycle.
And she started needing that side-settling
or that patting between each cycle.
So, it was getting a little bit exhausting for me,
and I felt really confident
to work on that next step,
on getting her to fall asleep without the patting.
So, in my experience,
sleep training wasn't this big, dreadful thing.
It was actually quite straightforward.
All I had to do
was just reduce that amount of patting.
And I worked towards just patting,
just to soothe her.
I was still there every step of the way,
I was still there to support her
but I just gave her that opportunity.
And I took that step back
and allowed her to do the rest by herself.
Within three to four days,
I was able to lay her down,
give her a quick kiss,
say our sleepy phrase,
and exit the room,
and she could just fall asleep without any help.
If we're talking about an older baby or a toddler,
say six to 12 months old or onwards,
their sleep association
is going to be more ingrained.
So, if, for example,
you have a 12-month-old
and they've only ever been rocked to sleep
or fed to sleep,
or co-slept in your bed,
then that sleep association
is all that they know,
and it's very, very strong ingrained.
So, it's going to take a little bit longer
to break that sleep association.
It's definitely not impossible
to teach an older baby or a toddler
to self-settle,
but just arm yourself with that knowledge
that it may not happen overnight.
It may not happen after three days,
but if you keep consistent,
you will get there.
So, I would give yourself a good one to three weeks
just to see some really good results,
because for an older baby,
they do have that willpower
to protest for quite a bit.
Their way of communicating,
I'm not happy, is to protest.
So, don't be alarmed if your older baby or toddler
doesn't get the hang of it right away
because it's a skill,
it's going to take time.
And if we keep as consistent as we can,
that is the best way
that we are going to see results.
The most important thing to remember during this time
is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,
that it's well, well worth it in the end.
I know with my two little girls,
popping them down for sleep
is such an enjoyable experience for me.
We have so much one-on-one bonding time together.
It just involves some story time,
some cuddles,
we sing some of their favorite nursery rhymes,
we lay them down,
we pop them in their sleeping bag,
they have the biggest smile on their face.
They blow me kisses, say goodnight,
and I can exit the room,
and they can just fluff around
until they fall asleep.
So, definitely keep your eye on the prize.
You can definitely do it.
Your little one can definitely do it.
And we are here for you every step of the way.
So, if you're needing some support,
if you're wanting a gentle approach,
or if you're wanting a quick approach,
that's what we're here for.
We have multiple different methods in our program
that will suit your parenting style,
and you can take it at any pace that you like.
So, that's all from me today.
I really hope that that answered your question,
and gave you a bit of an insight into sleep training.
But if you had any questions,
please pop them in the comment box.
If you enjoyed this video,
please give me the thumbs up.
I'll catch you again next time.
Bye!