MSD Baby Sleep Coach

Article featured in- OC Family Magazine July 2016, Page 50 By: Michelle S. Donaghy A fter months without sleep, you’re ready to help your baby learn to sleep through the night.  Getting better sleep for your baby, and you, is one of the best things you can do for your entire family.  If your child is 6 month or older and still waking during the night, it’s time to make a sleep plan.   Sleep 101:  Sleep is learned!   Sleep is a learned skill and teaching a brand new skill to your baby is no small task.   But you want the best for your baby and are willing to help your child learn this life-long skill. Sleep Associations: What are they?   Do you rock or feed your baby until they are completely asleep?   If yes, this is your child’s sleep association.   Sleep learning begins with changing your baby’s sleep association. Here's how to create a plan: 1   New bedtime routine.    A calm and pr...

Once you and your child are ready to start sleep coaching, knowing how sleep is learned will help you achieve success and get the much needed sleep for you and your lil one. Bedtime is the easiest time to learn independent sleep! When you are ready to begin teaching your lil one the skill of independent sleep - start at bedtime (the easiest time for your lil one to learn the new skill).  6-8 months is a great age to begin sleep coaching, if you haven't already taught your child to fall asleep independently.  If your child is older, don't worry it's never too late to work on this life long skill. I have many parents tell me ‘we tried that awake thing at a nap once and it didn’t work’ or ‘I tried that in the middle of the night’.  These parents all started at the most difficult time to teach this important skill. Independent sleeping skills are learned in stages: stage 1-  bedtime stage 2 - middle of the night stage 3 - early morning  st...