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
Life was tough when my mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer and with a lack of sleep it was hard… to keep things together! Mum gave me some money to buy myself something nice and I said the greatest gift anyone could give me was sleep….it was the only bad thing I could take control of. I did some research on sleep training and found Karen on the internet. I spoke to Karen and she was sure she could help. My husband was completely sceptical but I convinced him to give it a try. Due to mum passing away in June we had some delay in starting as we did not feel ready to take on the challenge. Karen was sympathetic and understanding and said it was entirely up to is when we were ready. I wish we hadn’t waited, as after weeks of night wakings and driving him round in the car at all hours when we finally did start in august, miracles happened! Thomas had a dummy all the time and at 20 months still had 4 bottles a day. Karen said we had to cut them all out, which we did. The first night he cried for an hour, but after that we have had no issues at all! He has taken to it so well and even settles himself at nursery or if we are away from home. We are 3 weeks in and he has not once needed us to go into him between 7pm and 6 am. You need to be prepared to follow Karens advice to the letter (even if it goes against your “mum” instincts). It has changed our lives, we have our evenings back and we haven’t had to try and function on 2 hours sleep!! It was worth every penny and would recommend it to anyone! Read more “”
Why we didn’t do this earlier, goodness knows!! After 21 months of disturbed sleep with my son waking at least… twice a night, we made the call to Karen. I knew a lot of the mistakes we were making, I just wasn’t sure how to reverse them, we had tried before but often gave in or he would be unwell and we would be back to square one. After a short conversation with Karen on the phone, she gave me the confidence to realise we could sort this once and for all. We completed a detailed questionnaire for Karen then met formally to discuss going forward. It was very relaxed with no ‘tuts’ of I can’t believe you have been doing that. She gave us a straight forward plan and target date to start. After only 3 nights my son was sleeping through the night and within a week he was having proper afternoon naps. He has been sleeping ever since, slight wavering when he got croup but with just a little adaption during him being ill, we have carried on as before following the new routine with total success Read more “”
Just over 7 weeks ago I was living off about 3hrs sleep (broken) per night and this had been going… on for 5 months. I barely saw my husband in the evenings as we did shifts – dinner together, talking about our day or even just 5 minutes of TV was a big NO in our home and we both couldn’t see how this would change. One of my friends gave me Karen’s leaflet and since meeting Karen in August mine, my husbands and our daughters life has completely changed – it sounds dramatic but it’s true. It got so bad that rocking Ruby (for 2hrs one night!!!) or even putting her next to me in bed was not helping her to sleep and now…she does between11-12hrs every night and she is such a happy, smiley, chatty baby – it’s amazing and her development just increases day by day. For my husband and I we have our evenings back! We can sit and have dinner together, chat about Ruby, listen to music all with the knowledge that our daughter is sleeping soundly and its great to know that we’ve helped her to learn to self soothe – sleep is so important. Karen, you were brilliant and supportive – I still pinch myself every morning when I hear her stir just past 6am – thank you very much. Ps All of the tips you gave me for going abroad worked wonders, Ruby slept through the night even though we were all in the same room and in a totally different country. Thank you. 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 “”
My 7 month old baby girl was waking every hour and needing to be resettled every night from the day… she was born. Our lives were horrendous and my husband and I were arguing all the time and my other two children suffering as we were sooo tired all the time. Having read all the books and with two other children who always slept the night from 3 months I didnt think we were ever going to sleep believing Sienna was just a baby who wouldn’t ever be able to sleep properly. I decided to hire karen and see if she could help. If im honest I didnt think anything would work.. I am an experienced mum and didnt think there was anything karen could do that I hadnt already tried. But it did work and on night 2 of karens sleep plan Sienna, to my complete surprise slept the whole night. . She has slept every night since. Most nights 12 hours solid. I cant thank her enough for changing our lives. Miracles do indeed happen (with the right help). My only regret is I didnt hire her sooner. Thanks karen xxx Read more “”
We first called on Karen when I was pregnant, to help get our older son James sleeping independently in his… own bed in plenty of time for the arrival of his baby brother. This has worked like a dream and set us up really well for the first few weeks of expected sleep disturbance with the new baby, Alex. However, thanks to the advice Karen gave us on managing day and night sleep with a new baby, the sleep disturbance was really kept to a minimum, and by 4 weeks old Alex was only waking for one night feed. When we started to have problems with short daytime naps a few months in, which was leading to more night waking, we called on Karen again for some help tweaking our day and night routines. This has worked so well. Alex is sleeping through the night at six months old, and sleeping really well in the day which gives me some time to get things done or have a rest. I am sure the help we have had from Karen has helped prevent a recurrence of the post-natal depression I had with James which had a lot to do with being exhausted and not knowing how to change things. Karen has given us a proven toolkit to work through problems as they arise. The very reasonable cost has been a small amount to pay for the peace of mind it has brought us. Read more “”
“We contacted Karen in desperation! Our 3 year old has never been a great sleeper, but the last 6 months had… been really hard, not actually understanding why he was waking and how we could help him get back to sleep. We tried everything, and it left us all completely shattered everyday!! His behaviour during the day became difficult, probably due to the fact he was so tired too. So we made one of the most life changing phone calls, to Karen. After meeting Karen I immediately started to feel more positive, we put her plan into action and started to notice a difference after 4 days, and now 3 weeks later we have our lives back. He is sleeping through the night and going to bed on time and without any fuss. I cannot thank Karen enough, the system works and I no longer go to bed each night full of anxiety! Thank you so much Karen!!” Read more “”
Karen, the sleep guru, is who you need if you have had enough of sleepless nights due to a baby/toddler… keeping you up at night! I contacted Karen after over two years of disturbed sleep and wish I had done so sooner, as after four nights, yes, just four nights, my daughter starting sleeping through the night. I never thought I would see the day (well night if we’re being precise!). Karen’s individualised sleeping plan meant that myself and my husband were equipped with the tools and confidence we needed to guide our daughter into learning how to sleep well, and I can honestly say, without hesitation, that she can now settle herself to sleep and sleep through the night without any parental input. Karen has been a great source of help and support throughout the process, and has been so positive and encouraging. She is worth every single penny and I will certainly be calling on Karen’s expert advice when baby number two arrives early in the New Year! Thank you so much Karen for helping us all to get our sleep back. Read more “”
When I called Karen I was feeling a bit hopeless about our sleep situation, my beautiful 15 month old daughter… Evie had been sharing my bed since around 3 months of age and had been breastfed to sleep for every bedtime and nap since she was born.. I couldn’t see how we could ever get out of that as previous attempts had proven upsetting for me and her and I had resigned myself to carrying on until she decided to get herself to sleep or wanted to go in her own bed, whenever that would be!! None of us were getting a good sleep as she would wake between 10-20 times a night and need to be immediately pacified (fed) back to sleep. As a result her appetite and moods were suffering in the day. I barely saw my other half and eldest daughter as i would go to bed with Evie and not be able to leave the room as she woke so frequently.. it was all a mess.. something needed to change!
I called Karen and she immediately she made me feel positive, her confidence told me that we were going to come out of this alive!! After speaking to her I just couldn’t wait to get started.
At the 90 min consultation I was made to feel even more at ease and confident.. Karen had put together a plan to suit us all with a routine that worked perfectly for our family.
First night was hard but even then she surprised us with how quickly she learnt.. By nights 7/8 she was sleeping 7-7.30 with one or two little shouts in the night but she was settling herself. I never ever thought she would be doing that.. I have my evenings back and my bed.. She is a different child in the day too.. So happy and she has a wonderful appetite now too. She loves her new routine and knows what’s coming next and I think she is actually beginning to enjoy going to sleep as she leans towards the cot when we sing her bedtime song 🙂
Best thing I ever did ringing Karen, she has changed our lives completely and was worth every penny! Read more “”
When we first contacted Karen, we were in a pretty desperate state. Max (our third child) had woken up every 1-2… hours and never napped for more than 20-30 minutes, it was affecting everything in the house including our relationship. A friend of mine recommend Karen to me and I am forever in their debt, Max is now not only sleeping through the night but sleeps for over an hour twice a day! I never thought it was possible, I cannot thank Karen enough for all the advice, help and support that she has given. We now really enjoy bed and nap times and max does now too! Thank you so much Karen. Francesca and Kevin (A well and truly happy mummy and daddy) Read more “”