Going Out to Dinner with Kids While on a Sleep Schedule
What is the Sleep Wise Method?
Because no two children are the same, there is no one method that we use at Sleep Wise. The goals for many parents are: easier bedtime, predictable daytime routine, decreased frequency of night wakings, and a well-rested child. So what is the Sleep Wise method we use to get there?
The short answer is that the Sleep Wise method starts with a sleep plan, created after thorough review of a family’s questionnaire, and is followed by customizations based on the needs of an individual child through one on one support with our pediatric sleep experts.
The long answer is that our methods vary depending on so many variables: age of the child, family goals, child’s personality, schedule, routine, nutrition, sleep environment, and how to best support independent sleep skills for each child. It is support and gentle guidance for your child as they learn a new skill. Let’s break it down by age.
Newborn Sleep Method
Newborn sleep is not sleep training! The method we start with for our newborn plans is the basic foundation of great sleep: safety! After implementing safe sleep recommendations and establishing a great feeding relationship, we begin to practice healthy sleep habits early on. This can be accomplished in a way that doesn’t sacrifice all of the beloved newborn snuggles. Over time, we intentionally build great sleep hygiene. Our goal is to help families set their little ones up for ultimate long-term sleep success. We do so by gradually weaning a child’s reliance on any external sleep aids.
We also help parents who plan to return to work get all the sleep they need prior to diving back into their careers. When working with newborns, we teach parents how to implement independent sleep skills slowly with realistic goals week by week. By about 12 weeks old, a little one can put himself or herself entirely to sleep with no sleep props, take independent naps, and sleep 10-12 hours through the night with no more than one waking to feed, if needed.
I promise these sleep goals aren’t too good to be true! Yet, in full transparency, you’ll often hear our team say that the newborn plan is a marathon – not a sprint! That is because the newborn plan certainly doesn’t come together overnight; it’s a culmination of a slow and steady race for weeks at a time.
Baby Sleep Plans
Infants already have pre-established sleep routines and habits. Thus, when families choose to teach independent sleep skills, that often means a previously-learned way of sleeping must be tweaked. As we teach a wonderful new way of sleeping, it is entirely normal for humans to express protectiveness around sleep, so it is important to set babies up for success long before bedtime. Amount of time awake before bedtime, nutrition, routine, sleep enviroment – these factors, as well as others, will help prepare your baby to learn new sleep skills by eliminating other causes of sleeplessness.
The sleep plan is the start of this process, and the one on one support throughout the plan, is where Sleep Wise can truly customize the method for your child. Laying down awake is a new concept, but through our advice, recommendations, and live support, families can make this change in a way that works best for their little ones! You do not have to make these adjustments alone, nor do you have to leave your little one alone! What sleep training is (and frankly, even what it isn’t) often has many misconceptions. We’d love to share realistic expectations on a free 20-minute evaluation call. You can also check out some of our FAQs.
Toddlers and School-Aged Children
It is never too late to teach independent sleep skills! Similar to our baby sleep program, we start with a sleep plan and customize through one on one support throughout a 3-week timeframe. We have the privilege of involving toddlers and school-aged children in their own sleep progress, and setting them up for success during the daytime. In providing personalized visuals, we strive to make these changes and expectations clear and easy to maintain long after the sleep program is complete. Best of all, children are proud of themselves as they learn to sleep without the crutches they once relied on!
Adolescents and Adult
Adolescents and adults have incredible options. Clients can choose our self-paced adult sleep course to transform their sleep over a period of about four weeks or purchase one-on-one assistance with one of our certified adult sleep consultants (or both!). We teach small, sustainable changes, and address underlying issues, to make this transformation doable for the long haul! This process begins with understanding that sleep should not be a daily battle. The Sleep Wise methods we encourage are all based on scientific research! EVERYONE deserves to sleep well, regardless of age.
Starting Plan + 1:1 Customized Support = The Sleep Wise Method
As you can see, there is a lot to consider when addressing sleep, which is why there is no one method. The true “magic” in what we do when sleep is troublesome comes in the form of the individualized follow-up support. We look at every single sleeper independently. While of course children at various ages have typical awake times, an average number of naps per days, and sleep recommendations that fit the majority, there are no two humans that sleep identically. (In case you’re wondering, yes, we find this to be the case even when we work with families of multiples!)
Although there are common approaches in which we can start teaching people to fall asleep without assistance in a reasonable amount of time and get all the sleep they need, the strategies we use in our one-on-one packages are personalized to each specific family. We often have to troubleshoot exactly what works for each person. In this way, we use our team’s sleep education and extensive experience to benefit every client!