Philosophy
What is Gentle Sleep Coaching?
The Gentle Sleep Coach® philosophy was developed by Kim West LCSW-C, The Sleep Lady ® because she found so many parents had difficulty following through with a sleep coaching program that they feared will damage their child emotionally or fill them with so much guilt they couldn’t follow through.
The GSC approach is a gentler alternative for families who emotionally or philosophically resist letting their babies cry it out: for families who tried “Ferber” (controlled crying) and it didn’t work, and for families who let their baby cry-it-out earlier but now find it doesn’t help. It is also for families who believe in co-sleeping but find that their children aren’t really sleeping all that well, even nestled snugly with their parents. Or for families who did co-sleep for a few months to a few years and now want the family bed to revert back to the marital one.
I will work with you to create an individualized, step-by-step sleep plan that will factor in your parenting philosophy, your child’s age, health and temperament, mother’s well-being and the related family dynamics. And most importantly I will support and coach you through the process from beginning to end for night sleep and naps!
Can you guarantee “no crying” you might ask?
No, no one really can. For example, if you as the parent have taught your child that the way to fall asleep is to be held to sleep for all naps, bedtime, and wakings, and you decide that you want to change this; your child will naturally protest or resist this change. After all, they don’t know why you have changed your approach. If your child is pre-verbal, then they will cry. My goal is to have as little crying as possible. I encourage parents to be loving and responsive, but to allow the child the room to learn this vital life skill of putting themselves to sleep. The parent responds and stays with their child and offers physical and verbal reassurance without putting the child to sleep. This supports the development of a secure attachment between parent and child.
Answers to a few other commonly asked questions:
What age range is a GSC (Gentle Sleep Coach) trained to work with?
Babies from birth to 6 years old. Theres is no research to support that babies are developmentally ready to sleep training before 4 months of age. I offer sleep shaping for 0-5 months that follow realistic sleep expectations for a newborn, how to set up a good sleep foundation and most of all how to offer soothing strategies for this age group.
For babies 4 and 5 months old, I can assess when a baby is ready for gentle sleep training and where to start.
