‘I didn’t want to let my baby cry’

With circles under their eyes and nerves on edge, parents of young children are flooded with sometimes contradictory advice on how to get their child to sleep. Clueless, some turn to a third party, such as sleep coaches, in order to find nocturnal respite. On Parents magazine’s Instagram account, one mother recounted her experience: “Our daughter still wasn’t sleeping through the night at seven months. (…) We needed a pacifier, to swaddle her, it took an infinite amount of time…”

Following a consultation, a coach proposed a two-week monitoring period and a “sleep plan.” The idea was to keep their daughter company, without rocking her to sleep, giving her reassurance, then gradually reducing their interventions. “Today, we put our daughter to bed in the dark. It sounds silly, but it worked,” said the mother. In the comments, opinions differed. At the heart of the disagrement: The introduction to independent sleeping, without rocking or feeding the baby to sleep, even if that meant letting her cry. It is a form of breaking for some, a necessary step for others.

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