In answer to this question, think of a Sleep Consultant a bit like a Personal Trainer – if you are able to follow their exact plan then you will absolutely be able to reach your goals.

As long as your baby is healthy and you are able to follow the exact guidance in the sleep programme you will be able to transform your baby’s sleep and usually within around 1-2 weeks. We’ve helped over a thousand families now to transform sleep and have many 5 star reviews on Google and Instagram if you want to read from other parents who have been where you are.

If you're unable to follow the plan in the Sleep Programme for whatever reason, that will hinder progress. But you can always pick back up again when you are feeling ready, and continue.

We teach “controlled crying” which is where you will leave your baby for short intervals starting from 1 minute and come back into the room to reassure them. And, “controlled comforting” which is where you will stay in the room with your little one to reassure them as they are falling asleep.

We only recommend introducing one of these settling methods after making sure that your baby’s sleep environment and daytime sleep are working well though, so that we minimise any crying as much as possible and ensure the best chance of success. Our Sleep Programmes guide you through these three areas step-by-step.

We do not advocate the “cry it out” method which is leaving your baby’s room and not returning to reassure. The version of controlled crying that we teach is much gentler than something like the Ferber method.

This totally varies from baby to baby but when we are introducing any kind of “change” for our baby crying is a normal reaction. Just like sometimes when you are taking them out of the bath they cry, or when you’re changing their nappy, or getting them into the car seat. It is our job as parents to reassure them through this initial change and friction and by being totally consistent we can show them that this new “normal” is actually quite wonderful for everyone!

The first couple of nights and days there is usually a fair amount of crying and this is the hardest bit of the process. We give you a time limit on that though and a “plan B” for what to do if your baby doesn’t settle during the allocated time for their night time sleep or for a nap. So rest assured, this will never be going on for “hours and hours”.

Whichever settling method you choose, we introduce it gently at the beginning so that your baby is seeing you for either very frequent or constant reassurance.

The content of the Sleep Programmes is exactly what we cover in our one-to-one consultations and we find that most families will see a huge improvement in sleep within 1-2 weeks. Often, under a week if you are able to follow the plan to a T.

If you are wanting to take a gentler approach (controlled comforting) then progress can take longer.

No. We had enough of that during lockdown for a lifetime! One thing we do recommend though is if you are wanting to work on getting your baby used to napping in their crib or cot that for the first week you aim to do as many naps at home as you can. This way your baby gets practice 2-3 times per day plus practice at bedtime and overnight which means progress happens much quicker as they get “used to” their new sleep environment sooner. This means crying decreases right down and they are settling for their sleeps happily within 1-2 weeks.

After that, the routine timings are the more important bit rather than always needing to be in the cot. So, making sure your baby naps at roughly the timings in the routine whether that's at home or out and about.

You 100% don’t “need” to do anything if it doesn’t feel right for you. Whether that's feeding, rocking or holding to sleep. If feeding to sleep is something you are enjoying currently then it’s totally fine to continue that for as long as it is working for you.

Often though, when a baby is relying on something like feeding in order to get to sleep initially, they are then needing that same thing in order to fall BACK to sleep when they are stirring between sleep cycles during the night. So if you are wanting to get longer stretches of sleep happening or work towards your baby sleeping through the night then often that means introducing the skill of independent sleep where your baby will be going into their crib or cot awake and then getting themselves to sleep (just as we do!)

No, you can absolutely still do the sleep training with your baby in your bedroom as long as they are in a cot or crib. The sleep programme is not suitable for if you are co-sleeping and wanting to continue co-sleeping.

You don’t need to move your baby into their own room in order to get your baby sleeping well, and we follow the Lullaby Trust’s guidelines on sleeping in the same room as your baby up to the age of 6 months. The "getting them used to falling asleep in their crib or cot" bit is usually the harder bit, the "transitioning them to their own room" bit is usually fairly easy and actually, way more of a big deal for us than it is for them!

The Sleep Programme is a downloadable, interactive PDF so you have lifetime access.