Harming Parents' Happiness
The Huffington Post featured a great article "The 1 Thing That Therapists Say Harms Parents' Happiness Most" .
The article covers:
The Pressure To Be Perfect
Rigid Expectations Of Your Child
A Feeling Of Shame
Social Media
As someone who works with parents daily, I had to share this article with you because I see these themes showing up with the families I work with.
The following article resonated with me because it is the exact situation many families are in when they try Do-It-Yourself (DIY) sleep coaching. Many families do something I call “sleep-train on the edges”. Imperfect DIY sleep training looks like googling some sleep suggestions, reading bits and pieces of books, and half-watching the videos on youtube. All these resources give you confusing and contradictory advice. Consequently, there is systematic incremental approach to learning sleep skills, but instead just confusing attempts fueled by the thought… “I hope this works” or “why dont we try this instead”. This scattered approach only leads to more tears and more protest for both child and parent. Sleep does not improve and the parent feels like a failure or that their child is doomed ot be a bad sleeper. This leads to much unhappiness…as the article perfectly states:
"Instead of feeling happy, we often feel defeated, or like we have failed. Repeated attempts to do something and then having it not work out can lead to a sense of “learned helplessness,” Bren explained, in which “we stop believing it’s possible and we give up."
When all we see on social media is “picture perfect” moments, it's hard to not feel alone like you feel you are the only one struggling.
It's hard not to experience overwhelm and relentless self-judgment when you have tried DIY sleep coaching and your child is STILL not sleeping.
I want all sleep deprived families who have tried and failed at DIY Sleep Training to know that hope and help is available to solve ALL your sleep struggles.
It is NEVER too late to teach your child the skills of sleep (I work with kids 6 months to 10 years of age).
Here is why you don’t have to feel helpless. The mastery of healthy sleep habits is a vitally important life skill. As parents, we coach our children on fundamental skills such as walking and reading, and so it is natural to safely and gently coach your child on learning the "skills of sleep”, which are self-settling and self-soothing to sleep without the need of sleep crutches.
Unfortunately, good sleep isn’t a milestone that most children reach by themselves. In order for parents to enjoy the benefits of calm bedtimes, peaceful nights and reliable naps, parents must purposely decide how and when to "teach the skills sleep."
I know you want to help your child learn these vitally important life skills for their proper health and development. You’re here because you’re searching for answers, support, and a solution that gets you—and your family—better sleep, and more of it. You’ve read the books, you’ve done your research, and sought information from family, friends, and your child’s pediatrician. All that information can be conflicting and confusing, especially when you’re exhausted.
There is absolutely no need to live life in a confused and sleep-deprived haze when there is hope and help available. It’s perfectly OK to ask for HELP in teaching your child these vitally important life skills.
I am always so honored when a family trusts me to solve their child's sleep struggles especially after many failed attempts. A Total Family Sleep Transformation leads to well-rested family and especially your happiness.
If you want to hear from families that have tried and failed and reached out for expert sleep support and tell their sleep success story.
Are you done doing DIY Sleep Coaching? It’s time to talk to Joanna.
The first step to see if I can help you achieve beautiful, blissful sleep is to schedule a 60 minute ZOOM sleep strategy session. Go to this link and complete the contact me form and I will be in touch within 24 hours with directions on how to schedule your Sleep Strategy Session.
If you are still wondering if I can help, please know I do NOT advocate 'cry-it-out'. I am a Gentle Sleep Coach. If you want to learn about my guilt-free and gentle process, please go to these links.
The Blissful Baby Stairway to Sleep
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