When it comes to sleep training your little one, I’m sure you are expecting the sleep training to make them a calmer, happier more adjusted baby… but unfortunately, at first, that isn’t always the case. Sleep training can actually cause some very unexpected effects to happen that aren’t so fun - but fear not! If you stay consistent with your sleep training methods and don’t give in or give up, then your little one will get through this and crappy sleep days will be behind you! These unexpected effects prove that the sleep training is working, so trust me when I say to stick with it and not give up! Things may seem a lot worse - and they may be - but that doesn’t necessarily mean the sleep training isn’t working. Stopping halfway through when your child is trying to work through this developmentally will only confuse them and hinder all the progress you’ve made. Stick with it and these days will soon be far behind you! There are three main effects that I want to discuss which are the most common to affect little ones who are being sleep trained.

Sleep Consolidation

Sleep consolidation, or sleep recalibration, happens with most children who are sleep trained. Sleep consolidation is when your child starts regressing in one area of sleep because they are now getting a more refreshed sleep that they aren’t used to. For example, say your child is a horrible napper and then you start sleep training them and they are sleeping really great for naps now. This will cause their night sleep to regress a bit and will look like not settling well at bedtime, waking frequently throughout the night, early morning wakes or waking in the night for long periods. They are so refreshed during the day - something they’re not used to - that they aren’t as tired come nighttime. It can also happen the other way around - if your child doesn’t sleep well at night and then you start sleep training them and their night sleep improves, then their naps will regress a little bit because they are refreshed from the amount of sleep they are getting at night, so aren’t tired enough for naps. They may refuse a nap altogether, not settle well for it or wake early from it. They will go full circle with this also.

So, if their night sleep improves, then their naps will take a hit, then they will consolidate. Then the night will take a hit again, then it will consolidate and everything will finally all CLICK! Let me reassure you that this is ALL NORMAL!! When this is going on it may seem like the sleep training is not working and that you should give up. This is most definitely NOT the time to give up though! This is when you really want to stay strong in your sleep training methods and stay consistent. Consistency will get you through this, whereas if you give in and start rocking your child to sleep then you will have broken all the progress you made. You will then be going backwards and will have to do the sleep training (and the sleep consolidation) all over again. Trust me when I say you need to stay strong and push through this - it’s the best thing for your baby and you!

Wake Windows

Wake Windows may seem a bit more obvious when sleep training because usually the wake windows need to be increased. With older babies, this shouldn’t be an issue. You should be able to adjust their times right away, no need to gradually do it. But with younger babies, it can be a bit harder. You can try stretching their wake window right away to see how they do, but if you find they are becoming overtired then you will want to reduce it back to what they are used to and then gradually increase it by 5 minutes every day until you are at the adjusted wake window. It is important to make sure your baby is getting overtired when stretching wake windows because that can cause another slew of issues that you really won’t wanna deal with… overtired babies are not fun.

Grouchiness

I think most parents would assume that with sleep training their child will become happier, calmer and more relaxed, and while that is true in the long run, in the short term it doesn’t always happen that way. In the beginning, while your child is still adjusting to these new chunks of sleep and wake times, they may come off much more grouchy and unsettled, or even apathetic. You will be wondering why on earth you ever started sleep training them to begin with, but let me reassure you that this is only a short-term side effect of sleep training. Once your child gets used to these new sleep patterns the grouchy days will be far behind you! Hang in there and stay consistent!

If you liked this blog, then you would love my Facebook group called Sleep Little One where I give parents advice and tips on how to improve their child’s sleep so everyone can get the sleep they so desperately need! Come join us!!

Talk soon,