Shocking Confessions of 10 Professional Sleep Consultants
(My piece originally published on Mom.me)
As a Certified Infant and Child Sleep Consultant, one of the questions I get asked the most from people is “How do your kids sleep?” I often tell them that you would be surprised at how little of my own advice I follow or how unready for change I am for long periods of time.
Making a change is hard work for anyone—expert or not. It's difficult enough for us to make change within ourselves but the prospect of asking your baby or child to make changes and being the support system for that change can be totally paralyzing!
Most sleep professionals will tell you that no change is better than inconsistent attempts at change. Inconsistency creates power struggles and sets everyone up for far more work with each attempt. This is why even professional sleep consultants are guilty of continuing poor sleep habits with our own children that we denounce to our clients daily!
I recently polled a group of my professional sleep consultant peers to get the real scoop on what "rules" they don't actually end up following in their own homes. If you're feeling like you should be doing more or doing better, take solace in the knowledge that even those of us who know better are in the same parenting boat.