Almost every parent has struggled with getting their little one to sleep through the night. If you're anything like me, bedtime remained a battle long into your child's toddler years. You've likely searched online, asked advice of friends and family, and resorted to bribery in the hopes of finding a sleeping solution that works for you and your child. As it turns out, you might be unaware of the tiny thing sabotaging your sleep training. You should remember, though, there isn't a single parent who has the answers to everything — and if they say they do, they're either lying or have secret magical powers.
Most parents have hit a road block or two when it comes to trying to create and maintain a healthy sleep schedule for their little one. If you've opted to go the route of training, then you probably know that, "sleep training is the process of helping a baby learn to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night," according to Baby Center. As simple as the definition is, putting this method into practice isn't always free of complications. So what little aspect of the way you implement sleep training could possibly be undermining all your hard work?
Safety and security are usually at the top of the list of parental concerns. But, according to the experts at Parents, using baby monitors can sabotage sleep training. How can something as simple as keeping an ear out for your baby's cries interfere with their bedtime pattern? As professional sleep consultant Justine O'Neill wrote on her official site, it's normal for babies to cycle through different levels of sleep. That means that when they're only lightly resting, they can make sounds and move around without actually being fully awake.
This can be a problem for parents, though, because hearing this on your baby monitor can lead you to check on your baby and actually wake them up unintentionally, as sleep consultant Melissa Freidman Zdrodowski told Sleep Sisters. In the end, only you can decide what works best for you and your family. But it's helpful to know that you don't have to let every little squirm and squeal you hear through the baby monitor undermine your sleep training.
