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If only they came with an off switch… or at least a self-soothe mode. Are you struggling to help your little one sleep through the night?
-Rebecca Klein
There’s now easy access available to a pricy process that’s made a fast difference for celebrity offspring and others. The Los Angeles based Sleepy Planet charges nearly $800 for a two hour consultation, which includes a customized plan, plus a week of follow-up phone calls. Actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, Greg Kinnear, and Jennifer Beals rave about it. It’s been no joke for late night funny man Conan O’Brien.
In their recently released book, The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent’s Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep from Birth to Age 5, Sleepy Planet’s co-founders share their philosophies for successful sleeping, help parents create a written game plan, and include an emergency troubleshooting section
“Parents who use our methods usually report that their child begins to sleep through the night in less than five nights, because the child receives clear, consistent responses that shape behavior quickly, and because she feels your loving encouragement while she learns,” write authors, psychotherapists Jill Spivack and Jennifer Waldburger.
Too tired to read? There’s also a DVD, which walks parents step by step through creating a plan and also includes footage following three families as they apply the techniques.
Spivack and Waldburger, best friends from college, each ran sleep consultation practices in different cities before they teamed up in 2003. They’ve heard all kinds of desperate sleep measures - including the Hollywood producer who climbed into the crib and curled up with her daughter.
The authors focus on the need to help children learn to soothe themselves to sleep and call their approach a “least cry” one. They believe picking up a child after some crying only reinforces crying. Instead of going cold turkey and letting children cry themselves to sleep, they encourage short parent check-ins, where children are given verbal support but are not picked up or touched. “You’re allowing some crying, for a few minutes at a time, only in the interest of helping your child learn an important new skill,” they write.
For older children, the authors suggest that parents create a short hand-made storybook, explaining how bedtime will work. One page may mention how little Susie will stay in her own bed until morning and show a picture depicting the goal.
In order for each family’s game plan to work, Spivack explains parents must be 100-percent on board and consistent. The authors caution against starting the process when children are in the middle of physical or emotional milestones.
When asked what makes this book stand out, Spivack says readers are presented with easy to follow steps written in a non-clinical tone, given the tools needed to craft a leak-proof plan, and learn about the emotional side of sleep training, something Spivack experienced first hand.
Back in 1997, Spivack, a mother of two, hit a wall and sought therapy to help her first child sleep through the night. “I wish that I knew then that sometimes for children to feel confident and competent they need to struggle a little to learn a new skill, even if it’s painful for us to watch.” Eventually, she made sleep the focus of her own therapy practice.
Unlike therapy for other issues such as anxiety disorders, Spivack enjoys the instant gratification that comes with her current role. “People come to you at one point totally desperate and a few days later jokingly tell you they’re going to build a shrine for you in their living room.”
That so called shrine is not just in honor of how the baby is benefiting
“When you’re finally putting your kids down at 7:30, what you realize is I have a relationship with my spouse again. It just makes such peace in the household. Your life is 150-percent different when they sleep.”
For more information on the book and DVD, visit www.sleepyplanet.com.
