The Peaceful Sleeper Review
Therefore when I found out I was pregnant, I started reading everything available about getting babies to sleep through the night. I knew this would be crucial to my survival as a new mom. Enter Christine Lawler, the Peaceful Sleeper!
If you are a new mom or a mom-to-be, Chrissy is someone you need to be following. I found her on Instagram (@the.peaceful.sleeper) while I was pregnant and gobbled up every drop of information that she put out. And what is that information? Sleep training tricks and tips! Chrissy is a family therapist out of Las Vegas but also a baby sleep consultant (and mom of four).
I was gifted her book,Get Your Sleep On: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy Moms Who Want to Preserve Attachment and Sleep Through the Night, from a friend and felt much more confident about surviving and sleeping as a parent after reading it. She breaks down how to sleep train your baby with three different methods, basically putting all the different methods into one easily digestible package.
The catch? You can only start sleep training your baby after about four months. What are all of us sleep-deprived parents to do until then? (And let me tell you the sleep deprivation is unreal!) Well, Chrissy just launched her Newborn Essentials Sleep Class in time for us to bring Teddy home from the hospital and I was lucky enough to be one of the first to try it out!
Well after taking the class and implementing her tips and tricks, I can attest that Lawler knows her stuff. Following her class has helped Teddy sort out his days and nights (praise Jesus), he has been getting longer stretches of sleep at night and has developed a generally consistent schedule. All these things make him a happy baby and me a slightly less sleep-deprived mom, which in turn makes everyone here at home happy. Below are some of my favorite takeaways from her Newborn Essentials Sleep class.
Let me share with you some of the benefits of baby sleep:
1. Sleep helps our babies’ brains mature and lays the foundation for consolidating memories.
2. Research proves that babies who have more consolidated nighttime sleep actually have higher cognitive scores.
3. Babies who sleep at night have been found to have an “easier” temperament, being more approachable, less distractible, and more adaptable.
These are just a few of the reasons. Sleep is just so important for all of us and impacts every aspect of our development, mood, and life in general.
I knew sleep was important, but let me tell you my story and show you my heart:
Sleep training works. Even if there is crying involved, the benefits of sleep are so important.
In fact, this research reviews 52 treatment studies. These studies show that sleep training “produces reliable and durable changes in bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children. An overwhelming majority of children respond favorably to these behavioral techniques, resulting in not only better sleep, but also improvements in child and family well-being.”
Let me break it down a little more. That review of the research tells us that sleep training works. It tells us that it helps babies sleep better, that they do well with sleep training, and that all of this improves the well-being of the entire family.
Now, maybe you are like me and you are reading this and thinking “Sure, Cara. This sounds great on paper, but my heart is still unsure.” I felt the same way.
I need you to hear this:
Research shows that sleep training doesn’t harm attachment.
Lack of sleep is stressful on our bodies. Cortisol is higher when we aren’t sleeping. After sleep training, a baby’s cortisol levels are actually lower because sleep deprivation and interrupted sleep are stressful on our bodies, our brains, and our emotions.
I want to tell you we got Ella sleeping. It was life-changing. I know I’m not the only one. I want you to see this research on maternal stress levels.
Moms who had babies who were sleeping well were experiencing less stress and anxiety, babies who were sleeping well experienced less stress, and families who used sleep training didn’t show any difference in their security and attachment.
I want you to know that everything I do and everything that I teach is based on evidence-based practices.
The Peaceful Sleeper Newborn Sleep Class Review
SLEEP GUIDANCE BROKEN DOWN BY WEEK AND MONTH
One of the aspects of the class that I’ve appreciated the most is that she breaks down newborn sleep by week and month. She breaks down what to focus on during each of the early weeks and then month to month. That first week home from the hospital is intense. Nobody is sleeping, I sure didn’t know what I was doing as a parent, and having a resource that gives you some guidance on what to focus on regarding sleep was incredibly helpful. I would have taken any professional guidance at that point.
IT’S QUICK AND EASY TO DIGEST
The entire course takes under two hours to get through. As a new mom with a baby who naps about that long, this was an ideal length. If you don’t have time to get through it all at once, Lawler includes a lecture notes style handout that you can print and make your own notations. This is what I sent my husband to read so we can be on the same page but without him having to watch the entire course. Honestly, these notes alone are incredibly helpful.
IT’S A BOOST OF CONFIDENCE
Nothing like having a new baby to totally throw your confidence for a loop. Suddenly you’re in charge of keeping this tiny human alive, you have near to zero practical preparation (at least I didn’t have any), and basically, don’t know what you’re doing. There really is nothing that made me feel better than realizing everything my baby was doing is completely normal. Falling asleep while nursing? Totally normal. Sleeping all day and awake all night? Totally normal. Not being able to read my baby’s “cues” off the bat? Totally normal. Hearing all of this from a trained professional was a balm to my sleep-deprived self those first weeks. Plus she gives you the tools on how to “fix” any of these little things that may be problems early rather than leave you suffering for weeks on end.
HELPFUL Q+A SECTION
Her question and answer section was another VERY helpful section for me. She touched on all the different questions and issues I was having with Teddy at the time, namely that he refused to sleep on his back.
This is also the place where she talks about various postpartum issues, specifically explaining the difference between the baby blues and postpartum depression. She really dives into the various forms that both of these take, which is more varied than I realized. All that I really knew about postpartum depression was what was on the forms my doctor gave me.
SAMPLES SLEEP SCHEDULES
These sample schedules were another very helpful aspect of this course. I understood the concepts of eat/play/sleep and how a newborn should only have short windows of awake time but as a visual learner, these sample schedules were helpful in implementing the concepts into my life. They will be even more helpful when we start sleep training for real at four months.
Who is this class for?
Ok so who is this class for ideally? Well, mostly this class is ideal for new and first-time moms, or anyone who hasn’t had a newborn at home in a while and wants a good refresher. It’s also a great resource for anyone who wants all the info on good sleep in one place. There’s no need to do a ton of reading or research because this class has all the information in one place for you. The 5s from the Happiest Baby on the Block and eat/play/sleep from Becoming Babywise are both covered. I’m sure that there are more baby sleep theories covered in the class as well but these are the two that I’m aware of.
This is also a great resource for any parents who want to start good sleep habits early. Lawler touches on how the lessons from this course will make sleep training much easier down the road and can carry over when my baby gets older as well.
