The ‘Baby Sleep the Night™’ Philosophy
Before being a child and baby sleep specialist, I am first and foremost a mother. For me, the most important thing, as a parent or as a child sleep consultant, is a child’s well being.
My Baby Sleep the Night™ gentle sleep-training programme is based on the belief that proper sleep not only helps the child but also the entire family!
Plus, you can rest assured that my philosophy and methods are aligned with best practices recommended by The UK’s National Health Service, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and The Canadian Pediatric Society.
Background and Experience
Teaching my children to be fantastic independent sleepers benefited them immensely, and in turn, my family. That’s why I dedicated my professional career to helping other parents who were as desperate as me to get their babies and toddlers to sleep.
For over a decade I’ve helped thousands of families get more out of life with my tried and tested methods that are more than just tips to get your baby to sleep. I ensure that every step is done precisely right, leaving absolutely no stone unturned. Close attention to detail is vital, and is why I hold a 100% success rate with families that stick to my gentle caring plans.
Whether it’s a baby going through a sleep regression or a six year old with bad sleeping habits, I’ve worked with them all!
During my training, I learnt all about the importance of sleep within the development of children. I also realised how a baby’s sleep pattern affected the health of the parents too. In short, when I helped stressed and tired mums and dads get their child to sleep, I inadvertently helped the family as a whole.
The more I helped, the more passionate I became about toddler and baby sleep training. The more passionate I became, the more I wanted to spread the knowledge I had acquired in the process.
Certifying Consultants
This is why I started training sleep consultants and certifying them to practise my philosophy.
I am determined to train people who care just as much as I do, so that they can help parents and babies get the sleep they need.
I understand that when parents reach out to a Baby Sleep the Night™-certified child sleep consultant to ask for help with their child’s sleeping habits, it’s almost always a last resort. Most parents never consult a baby sleep specialist because they feel it might make them seem like ‘failing at parenting’. Our Baby Sleep the Night™- certified consultants and I want you to know that asking for help does not make you a failure. Isn’t it said that it takes a village to raise a child?
However, we will make sure you understand the reason behind each and every step of the plan, why it’s so important, how it contributes to your child getting enough sleep.
What’s more, if you follow the detailed steps in your bespoke sleep plan you will notice a positive change in your little one, in terms of their energy levels, general happiness, and well being. That’s the power of good sleep!
Your Child’s Bespoke Sleep Plan
There are various methods to get your child to sleep that I use and teach. These strategies are based on individual family needs and preferences.
The most common specialist sleep solution I practise, and train the Baby Sleep the Night™-certified consultants, is the Gradual Retreat Sleep Training Plan.
This allows you to be right there with your child, touching them, talking to them and comforting them throughout the process of learning to sleep.
This isn’t for all families, of course. There are other ways to solve sleep issues and this is something that will be discussed in depth. This is so that parents get to choose what is right for them and their circumstances.
Regardless of method used, the success is in the detail – getting it just right. A consultant certified by the Baby Sleep The Night ™ will have been taught to:
- Learn About Your Child
As a parent, no one knows your child better than you. That’s why the Baby Sleep the Night™-certified sleep specialist will discuss your child’s sleep habits before designing a customised gentle sleep plan to get your child to sleep. - A Step-by-Step Plan
After they’ve got to know all about you and your child, they’ll lay out a plan. This will detail the steps that you’ll need to help get your child to sleep in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step format. But don’t worry – it’s not a hard and fast rulebook. It’s designed to give you enough discretionary power to make choices that will work best for you and your child! - Explain How to Measure Success
They will also explain what results can be achieved at what stage. The end goal is to get to the point where your child will sleep 12-hours a night. However, this will not usually happen on the first night (although it might!) - Manage Your Expectations
As part of the gentle sleep training programme, they’ll tell you exactly what to expect. Baby Sleep the Night-certified consultants take the uncertainty and guesswork out with their detailed ways to get your child to sleep. Effectively, they will hold your hand and support you throughout.
‘Crying it Out’
People always ask me whether the Baby Sleep the Night™ ways to get a child to sleep involve letting the baby ‘cry it out’. Here are my thoughts on this.
Let me reassure you that I’m not an advocate of controlled crying, ‘shut the door and leave them’ methods. I’m not saying they don’t work if they’re done correctly. They do.
However, I just think they are too tough on all involved.
What I will say though is we like things to be the same every night. Making big changes to anyone’s sleep environment would almost always be met with some kind of protest. With a child, their protest normally involves at least a few tears. So, I can’t promise you there will be no crying. In fact, with almost all of the families I have helped, there has been at least some.
I also completely understand that no one likes the idea of hearing their child cry. I myself am a mother of three and have been in your shoes. The Baby Sleep the Night™ philosophy does not rely on asking you to leave your child alone to cry for extended periods.
The reason that the Baby Sleep the Night™ methods are so effective is that they let you develop a planned way of getting your baby, toddler, or child to sleep that you feel comfortable with. This is completely based on what you already know about your child.
Sleep Regression
Sleep regressions happen at very important stages in a baby’s life. Despite what the name implies, it is in fact developmental rather than a regression.
So what is it?
For adults, a sleep cycle has four stages. These are:
- Drifting off
- Light sleep
- Deep sleep
- REM sleep
For a newborn, however, there are only two stages – deep sleep and REM sleep. Since these are both deep sleep stages, your baby will usually sleep soundly once they do drift off.
However, around the age of four months, the sleep cycle develops into the four-stage sleep, with stages of light sleep. Since this is so new for the baby, they will easily wake up when they reach those stages.
While the four-month sleep regression is the most well known, babies can also go through sleep regression commonly at the ages of 8 months or 18 months, or at just about any age! It usually lasts for two to six weeks, while the baby adjusts and adapts to this lighter sleep duration.
However, if you aren’t expecting it, it can be distressing.
Sleep regression can throw a lot of parents off. They can’t understand why their child, who was sleeping so well, is suddenly waking up unexpectedly.
My gentle sleep-training programme is designed to ensure that this phase is easily and quickly managed instead of becoming the basis of poor sleeping behaviour for your child.
Learn More About Our Gentle Sleep Training Methods and Results
My methods have worked consistently over the last decade. This is why teach them to all the Baby Sleep the Night™-certified consultants.
Please do have a read of some of the Happy Client testimonials where parents talk about their own experiences.
If you have any questions at all about the Baby Sleep the Night™ method or philosophy, please do contact me via email karen@babysleepthenight.com or by telephone on 01794 341172.
Testimonials
At 18 months Molly had never slept through the night, waking up regularly and co sleeping with me. I decided… that it was time to implement a new routine and help Molly learn to self-settle but wanted to make sure that whatever I did I followed it through and made it as easy as possible for Molly (and me!). A friend recommended Karen and I am very grateful she did as Molly now sleeps through the night for a minimum of 12 hours. The plan made a lot of sense and Karen made sure she explained the reasons for each step which made me fully confident it would work and demonstrated the importance of consistency. I really can’t believe that now, as long as I follow my routine, I put Molly into her cot, walk out the door and before I know it she is asleep and then I don’t see her again to the morning! Thank you Karen! Read more “”
My 3 and half year old toddler had been waking every night for a year (since the day her sister… was born) and I really thought there was no way of fixing her or getting a normal nights sleep. I was about to return to work and the prospect of dealing with night wakings whilst working filled me with dread and depression. I really lost hope until I spoke to Karen. She made me understand that it could all change and that I could get a normal nights sleep again. After implementing Karen’s plan, we soon saw how the little changes made a big difference and she was soon sleeping through the night with no tears or tantrums. I am so grateful to have had Karen’s help and support and it’s really made life more pleasurable and has also changed the behaviour in my little girl, who is now more pleasant to be around. We think as parents it’s normal to miss out on sleep but there is no reason to. Babies and children need help to understand how to sleep so for anyone having doubts, I urge you to try it – it’s a small price to pay for a skill that lasts a lifetime! Read more “”
We really cannot thank you enough for the help and support that you have given us with Dylan’s sleeping pattern.… For 12 months he had only ever slept through the night twice and due to personal circumstances outwith our control we had slipped into bad habits that we just couldn’t reverse. We did not know what to do or where to turn for help and so when I was given your details it was like a light at the end of the tunnel.We thought it would take a lot longer but within 2 nights of your help he was sleeping right through the night managing to get himself back to sleep and he now regularly goes for naps during the day. The plan is simple to follow but more importantly makes sense so we understood the reasoning behind it. I must admit that my husband was sceptical to begin with but he admits it’s the best money we have ever spent. In short Karen, you have given us back our lives and for the first time in 12 months we felt confident enough to leave Dylan with a friend and enjoy a meal out together. Read more “”
It’s amazing what you put up with when 2 weeks with Karen can completely change yours and your child’s life. … Jack would come and visit us 4 or 5 times a night, ask to sleep in our bed or we would end up sleeping on the floor in his room. We kept thinking it was just a phase and it would get better. It didn’t so we asked Karen for help. We had an informal consult when we discovered what methods Karen used. One thing we didn’t want to do was try things that we had tried before and hadn’t worked. Karen then spent 2 hours with us via face time discovering what type of child Jack was, what our routines were and then sent us a detailed plan of what to do as well as talking us through the plan. I’m not denying things changed in a day and that it was easy! It took a lot of hard work from us but Karen made us see it was working and was there with positive words and back up when we needed it. Jack now sleeps 12 hours a night, goes to bed easily and we have seen such a developmental leap in conversation which I do think is due to sleeping better. He’s really happy, as are we that we have achieved a great balance for work, rest and play! My husband and I even managed a night out after 3 weeks of the plan which we hadn’t achieved in a year! Thank you Karen! Read more “”
‘This has completely changed our lives. Before contacting Karen I couldn’t imagine how it would be possible to get my daughter… to go to sleep by herself. I really cannot recommend this enough. Both my husband and I agree that this is the best money we have ever spent. We are all so much happier as we are getting some sleep! I can concentrate at work, my husband and I actually get to spend some time together and our little girl is so much happier (which I didn’t think was possible). I wish we had done this sooner!’ Thanks for everything karen. Hope you had a great christmas. Read more “”
After 16 months of pretty much no sleep, myself and my husband decided we couldn’t go on like this. Our… 16 month old little boy was an awful sleeper. Some nights waking every 45 minutes, most nights just screaming.
After trying everything we could, we decided we needed professional help. My mother in law found an article about parents struggling with their babies not sleeping, so I decided to call Karen and I am so glad I did.
After meeting Karen who is fantastic and going through a plan suitable for Max it was time to start. I was dreading it at first but things couldn’t get any worse. The first few days were hard but were so worth it, it’s been 2 weeks now and Max has been sleeping through for a few days now which is amazing. Everything about nap and bedtime has completely changed for the better.
I would 100% recommend Karen to anyone struggling, not only is she amazing at her job she’s a lovely lady too. Read more “”
My son had always been a good sleeper and had no trouble going to bed. Suddenly at around 18 months… he started waking in the night and not wanting to be left alone and he started early rising. We managed to pretty much overcome the night waking but the early rising became a daily thing with 5.15am the norm! On top of this, he refused to nap during the day when at home so we were stuck in a rut with a tired child and tired parents. With a brand new addition to the family and the increased lack of sleep that brings too, we decided enough was enough and I called Karen. My only reservation was that I did not want to pay to be told things I already know or have read in books and I hoped Karen would have some fairy dust up her sleeve…She did. Just after I convinced my husband to let us spend the money on Karen’s services, we had such a rough night that he said he’d pay double! I think he nearly hugged her when he answered the door to her. We had the complete solution package and the newborn package for our two children. We expected it to be hard at first but we saw a massive improvement on our very first night of sleep training our toddler. Over the two weeks of training we have turned things around and he is now sleeping through to more like 7am with no night waking and still going to bed with no problems. We have also learnt valuable skills to help the newborn who is also sleeping through already at just 6 weeks. The best thing about hiring Karen is that she is there for you the whole way through the process. She tailors the training to your family’s needs and reminds and advises you if you come unstuck and she makes sure you see it through. You can’t get that from any book. This service is well worth every penny and I feel we will have years of benefit from it. I highly recommend it. Read more “”
“I was really struggling to get my second son to sleep through the night, I was permanently getting up in… the night to put the dummy back in, I was so worried he would wake my 4 year old I would do anything to keep him quiet. But after 7 months of sleepless nights I’d had enough, I was desperate for some sleep. I was at a loss as my first slept through from early on and I needed some help and guidance. Some friends of mine has worked with Karen in the past and recommended her. I now wished I had done it sooner. She gave me the confidence to get Rory through the night and to give up the dummy. Karen gave me a step by step instructions and Rory responded to them almost immediately. She was there on a daily basis if we had any problems or if things needed to be fine tuned. I had got to a point where I was so tired I couldn’t think for myself, I was short tempered with my husband and children and didn’t know where to turn. Karen saved me and my family, I can’t thank her enough for what she has done and couldn’t recommend her more. So if you are thinking about calling her, don’t even hesitate!” Thank you for saving me and my family.Merry Christmas 🙂 Olivia Read more “”
Massive thanks to Karen at Babysleepthenight, our lives have been changed dramatically since our bundle of daytime joy has become… a bundle of nighttime joy too!
We enlisted Karens help after many failed attempts at getting out little one to sleep! (12 months of frequent wakings plays havoc!) We started on the eve of her first birthday and I can honestly say within 3 nights our lives were transformed! Within 2 weeks our little girl was sleeping 11 hours a night!
We used Karens time change advice when the clocks changed and took her advice on our first holiday, with our little one still managing 10-11 hours!
Now 6 months on we still stay true to the advice and get 11, sometimes even 12 hours of nighttime joy!
Thanks Karen!! Read more “”
So before we had kids everyone use to take the mickey out of me as I was always going on about how… much I loved my sleep! I even had a badge that said I love my bed, I just love sleeping!!! So it seemed strange (and cruel) that I could produce two children that didn’t like sleeping, at all!!! Sleep had become a distant memory as we had been suffering with a four year old who has never slept very well and now a 10 month old who was following exactly the same path and we had tried everything possible so I decided enough was enough! Our nights were just extensions of the day except for the fact we were desperately trying to catch 40 winks inbetween the kids waking up! We were exhausted and had turned into parent robots! So when someone gave me the Echo with Karens interview in I could relate to so many things I decided to give her a call. Initially I hadn’t decided to go ahead with it but just wanted to see what she had to say. As soon as I spoke to Karen I felt like I had known her for years, she was friendly, understanding and gave me such confidence that she could help I immediately signed up. OK so my husband nearly collapsed when I told him I had spent money on this ‘sleep lady’ who was going to solve all our problems, but I was willing to try anything. When Karen came round for the consultation we went through all the relevant information and she came up with a plan, my little girl only cried for such a short spell of time those first few nights, the plan was easy to follow and it was a relief to have times to aim for so I felt I was doing the right thing. After just one day my 10month old was sleeping through the night! 7-7 no waking!! I am not kidding it was a miracle! She has continued to do this since that day! My eldest one is no longer waking either with advice and support from Karen both my girls are now like little sleeping beauties at night and we are no longer robots but have got our lives back! People don’t understand what sleep deprivation is like, parents of kids who sleep well think you are just overreacting or being overdramatic they don’t understand how it effects every single area of your life. What we have now is ‘normal’ to most people but for us Karen has given us our lives back! My husband and I believe Karen is worth every single penny! You just can’t put a value on your life or your sleep!! Read more “”