The bedtime pass is a favorite sleep training technique of mine. It’s perfect if you are struggling with frequent curtains calls at bedtime, or even if you have a child who gets up occasionally at night. Each night your child gets a pass (sometimes also known as a bedtime ticket) that allows her to come out of her room and make one request—such as for an extra hug, a drink of water, or a story. If she doesn’t use the pass that night, you give her a small reward the next day. I love this technique for kids in the preschool through elementary school age. It’s fun, non-threatening, and effective ..read more

“Bedtime fading” in sleep training simply refers to using a later bedtime to help a child fall asleep more easily, and to adapt to independent sleep at bedtime. I often find that parents who see me in clinic have tried and failed to sleep train their children. (Obviously, the ones who had an easy time don’t need an appointment).  As I work with families to come up with plan to help their children fall asleep and stay asleep on their own, bedtime fading is one of the most useful tools that I use. Why does bedtime fading work? Bedtime fading is simply more closely aligning your child’s bedt ..read more

“Cry it out” (CIO) sleep training is one of the most commonly used and recommended sleep training methods. It’s the best studied in the medical literature.It’s also the sleep training method that most pediatricians have used for their own children— precisely because it is so effective and quick. CIO sleep training has many names and variants: Extinction sleep training Graduated extinction (also known as the Ferber method, after Dr. Richard Ferber) Extinction with parental presence (also known as “camping out” sleep training For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to call it by “popular” name, CIO s ..read more

My attempt to cram as many french stereotypes into an image as possible This weekend I met my friend Samuel at the park. A native of Brittany, he’s describing my children as “the mysterious French man”, but like me, he is a suburban dad here in Connecticut. This reminded me of an article I read several years ago about the book Bringing Up Bebe, about parenting insights gleaned by an American mother living in France. The author, Pamela Druckerman, is amazed by the fact that the babies of some of her French friends sleep through the night, even as early as two months of age. The philosophy ..read more

Sleep regressions are a major pain point for parents. I’ve covered there elsewhere Are sleep regressions real? How to deal with a sleep regressions What to do about a nap strike What is the first thing parents should do if their child is now having sleep issues? Check and see if your sleep habits have slipped a bit. Is bedtime later or more variable? Are you being lax with your bedtime routine? How long can we expect sleep regression to last? Usually they are pretty brief— say, less than a week. If your child’s sleep regression is so disruptive and doing nothing is just not working, what can ..read more

Nap strikes are a special kind of sleep regression, where your child who used to nap like a champ just starts to refuse to go down for a nap. These occur common around the times that children are transition between various nap periods (For more on sleep regressions, you can read my articles here: Are sleep regressions real? and How to deal with a sleep regression). The pain of missing a nap When you child starts refusing naps, it can be quite painful, whether you are a stay at home parent, or work outside of the home. What can compound the frustration is when your child continues to nap in sch ..read more

I’m going to be honest here– I don’t love the term “sleep regression” because I feel like the term is imprecise. Eagle eyed readers may note that I put the term “regression” in quotes. Am I throwing a bit of shade on the concept? Maybe. . . but tired parents still need help, even if the term is slippery. There’s a lot of talk about sleep regressions happening at certain ages (The “8 month sleep regression!” The “Two Year Old Sleep Regression!”). If you search on Google, you’ll find a ton of search results on this. If you search the medical literature, however, you won’t find anything. W ..read more

Hey there, Navigating the tangled web of pediatric sleep advice can feel like an endless quest, especially when you’re up against a barrage of myths and misinformation. That’s precisely why Arielle and I decided to tackle some of the most pervasive sleep myths head-on in our latest episode of “The Sleep Edit,” aptly titled “Sleep Myths.” We dive deep into the misconceptions that might be sabotaging your child’s sleep, from the misunderstood concept of wake windows to the contentious debate on sleep training. Our mission? To arm you with the facts and insights you need to guide your child towar ..read more

This is a recent article from my newsletter on the role parental behavior plays in helping kids with anxiety sleep better (or keeps them struggling). If you find this useful, please feel free to subscribe below. I recently recorded a new episode of The Sleep Edit where Arielle and I interviewed Dr. Danielle Garay (which will come out in a month or so. In preparation, I reread Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD by Eli Lebowitz. It’s a terrific book if you have a child who struggles with these issues. It’s also a wonderful parenting book in general, because it gets into the concept of parent ..read more

In this information-packed episode of The Sleep Edit podcast, I spoke with my good friend and sleep consultant Arielle Greenleaf to tackle one of the most common pediatric sleep challenges – night wakings. There was so much to cover this is actually the second part of our series on this topic. As a pediatric sleep specialist and author, I see many tired parents struggling with frequent overnight awakenings, early morning rises, and losing sleep themselves trying to soothe their kids back to sleep. Arielle and I covered all aspects of night wakings including: *Guidelines on necessary vs unnec ..read more