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
My wife sought out and registered us for the course following a recommendation on social media. I was indifferent to… the idea at first but was absolutely prepared to put my full effort into it as it would have been a waste of money not to fully commit to the course, and I wanted to get the most out of it and also solve my sons sleeping problems. The facetime interview enabled us to lay out Alex’s issues in fine detail, whilst also building a rapport with Karen. She was able to lay out the programme that we would be required to follow over the subsequent days and discuss the details of it. It was therefore possible for her to tailor the programme to our particular situation. Subsequently we received the supporting course paperwork to be read before and during the programme. This reinforced in my mind what we had discussed in the online chat. The crib sheet proved particularly useful thereafter and is still sitting on the dresser in Alex’s room to refer to. Although not proposed on the course, me and my wife took the opportunity to walk through the process of the new routine whilst Alex was in playgroup. In this sort of dress rehearsal, we literally walked through the new routine from bathtime through to bedtime, just to make sure we would have everything we needed to hand, that we had the ergonomics sorted out, the lighting correct, and to confirm we were both in agreement as to how things would play out and how we respond to situations. I think this helped greatly as we it got the first night off to a good start with no disorganisation. I found that a small set of yellow ear plugs were a great help on the first few nights since crying was inevitable. Having them in, I didn’t completely block his crying out to and I didn’t want to, but it took the edge, preventing his crying from getting the better of my instincts to see to him. I also was able to message my wife who was downstairs with the baby monitor and this gave us mutual support and feedback. I had belief in the outcome of the course by the end of the online chat with Karen. Her estimates of how it would play out were surprisingly accurate. Needless to say in my opinion the course has been a complete success and was worth every penny. Our lives have already improved significantly in the last two weeks. My advice to other parents who do this is for both parents to commit to the programme and then stick to it ruthlessly. Read more “”
Hello, my name is Kelly. If you’d have said to me six months ago I would be sleeping for more… than two to three hours in a row at night and more than five hours in total, I would have never have believed it! Since the night we brought our baby Harry home he has not slept through a single night.. Until now! After twenty one months of sleep deprivation we were at our wits end mentally and physically. When a friend recommended us to Karen, I was ready to get help. It had been suggested to me in the past but I think like many parents I hoped things would get better on their own and felt that if we just hung in there we could sit it out until then! I must admit that as much as I wanted to put my faith in this stranger to solving all our night time traumas, I was somewhat dubious as to how she was going to achieve this. After all, many stories I heard were of babies or toddlers not wanting to go to bed and having to be asleep before being put into their cots etc. Harry rarely made a fuss about actually going to bed, his problem was the million times through the night when he would wake up! I couldn’t understand how anyone could stop that. My doubts were outweighed though by my desperation for sleep! Working with Karen was very interesting. She had been where we were now and it helped knowing she understood. Most of the changes we were advised to make were so subtle that my doubts about how they would make a difference started to worry me.After the first two nights it was clear that these changes were extremely noticeable to Harry! Karen had always said from the start that the first few nights would be the hardest and she wasn’t wrong! Also I wasn’t expecting for the changes we had been advised to make in the daytime to be as challenging as they were also. Throughout it all though Karen was there and we followed her instruction to the letter. Well to cut a long story short! I am still waiting for this amazing transformation to Harrys sleep pattern to end and for me and my other half to fall back into our nights of cat naps and crying (apply that to whoever you wish)!! to reinstate itself! I just can’t believe that pretty much from day four of working with Karen our boy has slept all night every night without us getting up to him. I still do not know how this happened! But it did and all I can say if you are reading this through bleary eyes after yet another sleepless night when that first little murmur from their cot sets your adrenalin racing and your palms sweating is, get in touch with this lady! We are still working on the finer points of Harry’s routine but everything takes time to perfect and obviously when he was poorly with a cold over Christmas things were harder, but we have the tools now to get back on track when we need to. All I can say is that it worked! Don’t wait a single day more! Happy, restful new year! Read more “”
Strength, determination and conviction that you’re doing the right thing are qualities that dwindle when in the depths of sleep… deprivation! After 7months of existing on around 2-3 hrs sleep a night, desperation had set in to find a way of helping our gorgeous little girl to sleep soundly. When Karen introduced us to the clarity, simplicity and step by step approach of her plan, I knew this was exactly what I needed! With Karen’s unfaltering guidance and support, in a matter of days we were on our way to sleep like we’d never before experienced! The results really were astonishing and within a week our little girl had gone from not sleeping for more than an hour at a time to sleeping a straight 10 hours. Success, blissful nights and a much healthier, happier household! Read more “”
At 6 months of age, Henry had never slept for more than an hour at a time, night or day.… He wasn’t napping well in the day and was obviously grumpy. We were both totally knackered and feeling that we weren’t able to engage with him as much as we should because we were so tired. Life was simply survival. We found Karen and asked for her help. She was fantastic, within 5 nights Henry was sleeping through for 12 hours and within a week he was having 3 naps in the day as well.We are now 2 months, one change of clocks, 3 holidays and one bout of illness down the line and all 3 of us are still sleeping well.Karen’s advice worked and was tailored so that neither Henry or us were too upset with what was going on. She was confident and dealt with our problems in an open and understanding way. We would have no qualms about recommending her to anyone who is having problems with their baby’s sleeping. Many, many thanks 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 “”
‘When people found out we were having our second child with only 17 months apart many thought we were crazy!… Our confidence in our ability to cope however came partly from meeting Karen. Karen taught us how to get our 6 month old sleeping through the night and when I knew baby number two was coming along I contacted Karen for her newborn packaged. Karen armed me with all the knowledge and skills needed to get my new baby into a sleeping routine within weeks of being born. Many have commented on how content he is and I put it down to Karens wake eat play sleep routine that has us both knowing what we are doing. Our newborn is self settling and has begun to sleep through the night at 9 weeks. When we hit the inevitable milestones that will throw this off track!!! I will be contacting Karen again for her advice and support. Read more “”
We contacted Karen about our daughter Evelyn when she was 7 months old and was waking around 4-5 times a… night and only settling by being breastfed. Our first daughter was a legendary sleeper and slept 7-7 from around 10 weeks so we weren’t prepared for the torture that is sleep deprivation! We had no idea what to do and were given so much conflicting advice from breastfeeding counselors, friends and from researching sleep solutions online. What we needed was a plan and the confidence that she could and would sleep well! That’s where Karen came in. We were amazed to read past testimonials of her successes with other families going through the same as us and after a 15 minute consultation call we were sure that she could help us. Our initial consultation was an hour and a half and consisted of a really detailed discussion about Evelyn and her sleep habits, how we felt about her sleep and what we had done so far to try to help her. We had basically done exactly what we had with our first daughter, expecting it to work exactly the same, but soon realised Evelyn was a very different baby. Karen talked us through our detailed sleep plan which involved a few small but significant changes to our bedtime routine and a bit more structure around day time naps. She was calm and supportive every step of the way and reassured us that we were doing what was best for Evelyn and for us, and she was right. The first night Evelyn woke twice briefly and settled herself and then had a longer waking and with our comfort and support was able to get back to sleep. The next night she woke briefly twice, and then after 4 nights she slept all night! We couldn’t believe it. We thought it might be a one off but 2 weeks later she is still sleeping 11-12 hours at night and having 2 good naps a day. We are starting to feel more human again and its all down to Karens support and advice. We cant thank you enough for what you have done for us and for Evelyn! Thank you so much. Love from Liz, Ian and Evelyn x Read more “”
Thanks to Karen and her plan our 9 month old daughter now consistently sleeps 11 and a half /12 hours… night and has 2 decent length naps in the day. We sought Karen’s advise after all being sleep deprived and after realising that we were falling into bad habits at bedtime and nap time. We could be in and out of her room up to 6 times at night and sometimes trying to settle her for up to 2 hours in the middle of night. In sheer desperation and exhaustion I started bringing her into our bed, which I knew I didn’t want to do but felt I had no other option. After religiously following Karen’s sleeping plan Amelie slept through the night from day 2. We couldn’t believe how quickly it worked for Amelie. We can’t thank Karen enough!! Read more “”
I contacted Karen for advice regarding our six month old. At that time he was waking 3 or 4 times… a night and could only return to sleep with milk or rocking. He was also unable to settle and nap in his cot during the day. Our initial 15 minute consultation filled me with hope and positivity and true to her word when Karen and I met for our one to one session she talked openly and honestly with me regarding the issues we were facing and how to change them. Her personal sleep plan for our son had him putting himself to sleep, and back to sleep on the first night, and sleeping through within days. I was amazed that he could adapt so quickly when we consistently carried out the plan. As Karen had advised naps would prove harder to master however two weeks later our son is successfully napping in his cot twice a day. The daily support in the early part of the plan is invaluable to discuss any issues and gain reassurance. An amazing service, from a genuinely kind and caring professional. Read more “”
THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH for giving me my SLEEP back as well as my life. Before i meet karen… i was up and down most of the night and suriving on a few hours sleep, which was hard especially when it was affecting my work as well as my home life and my general health. Within just a few days of meeting karen and sticking to my bedtime routine charlie my 20month old son had started to sleep through the night again as well as having a two and half hour sleep in the afternoon giving me time to myself again. Thank you once again. Read more “”