With all of the information that’s available online, and the advice of your friends and family who have managed to get their kids to sleep, why would you want to invite a stranger into your home to get your child sleeping through the night?

I was so relieved when my baby started sleeping through the night, that I didn’t even care what hoops I had to jump through or how long it took to get him to sleep. And that was where I went wrong. Because babies who need help falling asleep turn into toddlers who need help falling asleep. And the older he got, the longer it took and the more ridiculous the hoop jumping became. Which is how, like so many parents, I got suckered into sleeping with my toddler every night. 

So….maybe that title is a little misleading. I’m not suggesting that you can remove yourself from baby’s bedtime routine altogether. Even if you could somehow say to your child, “Alright. It’s almost bedtime. Go have a bath, brush your teeth, get into your PJs, read yourself a story and tuck yourself in. Mommy will be out here watching The Bachelor with a glass of wine if you need me.”

This is a difficult question to answer without getting into some specific details, which is unfortunate, because when parents ask me this, I know they’re looking for a quick, concise, time-based answer. “Three nights from now,” or “Six months old,” are the kind of responses they’re hoping for, and the kind I wish I could give them, but there are a lot of factors to consider, and some things to understand before you can narrow down the timeline. The first thing I feel parents need to understand is this...

If there’s anything that can send your child’s sleep off the rails, if there’s an arch-enemy for sleep training, it is, without a doubt, the dreaded condition of over-tiredness.