Sleep training often makes baby or toddler sleep worse

This article is part of a collection inside The Possums Sleep Program called Deeper Dive, which explores the more complex scientific, historical and social contexts in which families and their babies or toddlers live and sleep. You don't need to read Deeper Dive articles to be helped by The Possums Sleep Program.

How can sleep training make your family's sleep worse?

There are a number of ways in which sleep training can make your little one's sleep and your own sleep worse. Here are some examples.

Sleep training might result in

• Your baby or toddler waking more often in the night after a few weeks, because advice to lengthen daytime naps gradually disrupts the body clock. You can find out about this for babies here, and toddlers here

• You spending long periods of time trying to get your little one to go to sleep, when the sleep pressure isn’t really high enough yet - babies here, toddlers here

• You spending much of the day inside the house (if you're the primary carer) trying to teach your little one better sleep routines, which causes babies (here) and toddlers (here) to dial up, and makes the days miserable

• Your baby or toddler waking up and immediately crying or screaming in the night (often referred to by parents as "going from zero to 100" on waking), which I refer to as conditioned dialling up with night waking - babies here, toddlers here

• Your baby or toddler crying whenever you approach the cot, which I refer to as conditioned dialling up with the cot. You can find out about this here

• Your attention narrowing down more and more closely onto your little one's sleep, so that thinking about sleep quickly dominates the ways in which you live your life with your baby or toddler. You can find out about why this makes sleep worse here, and here.

• High levels of family stress and distress about sleep. You can find out about preventing this here.

The Possums Sleep Program is an entirely different way of thinking about your little one's sleep, which aims to make your days and nights with your little one as easy as possible, and to help you grow joy and enjoyment in your life together.

Growing enjoyment and ease is best for the flourishing of your little one's developing brain! And it's very good for you and your emotional wellbeing, too.