Episode 164: What is the Best Baby Sleep Training Course or Program

Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.

Welcome to the kids sleep show, podcast where we dive into the magical world of sleep and all things parenting. Join us as we embark on a journey filled with expert advice, practical tips and heartwarming stories that will transform your little ones into sleep superheroes and empower you to navigate the beautiful chaos of parenting.

I’m your host, Courtney Zentz,

and I’m on a mission to change how the world views sleep and provide accessible sleep coaching resources for all families to build healthy sleep habits in their home for children and adults of all ages. As an award winning speaker, author and pediatric sleep expert, myself and my team of consultants work intimately with families around the world to teach healthy sleep habits to children and adults. I believe wholeheartedly that sleep is the foundation for which a happy home is built. So let’s sleep together. Hello and welcome. This week’s episode of the Kids sleep show. My name is Courtney Zentz, the founder of tiny transitions and the creator of the sleep Steps program, be sure to like and subscribe and leave a review for the kids sleep show. If you love what you’re hearing from us, it always helps support us as a small business and a female founded company. And I’m excited to chat with you today about something that comes up every single week here inside of our community, and it is, what is the best baby sleep training course for you and for your baby? There are a lot of courses out there, and I want to kind of dive into what the difference is between the different courses today, because I think people are confused, and there’s a lot of misunderstanding in the space of baby sleep training that happens when it comes to baby sleep courses, right? And what the best baby sleep course is? So I’ve been in the space for about 10 years now. I started tiny transitions in 2015 and I have seen a lot in the space that has shifted in the course of 10 years. When I got started, there were not a lot of baby and toddler sleep coaches, and all of a sudden, right? There’s sort of this influx of, like, this career opportunity for folks to do either full time or part time, right? And a lot of people who were like, I’m going to create a course. And that was like, all the rage, and even still, is a lot of the rage, right, creating these courses around helping a child to sleep well, at every age and stage, right? And so however you brand it, okay, the sleep training courses that are out there are often two things, right? There’s a video which is usually housed in probably Kajabi, because that’s the most popular, but it’s also the most expensive. So sometimes people just use Google Drive, where you download the audio file, but you’ve got basically a video that explains your baby and what you’re doing, and then you have a PDF that goes along with that particular age, or, you know, infant course, or, you know, 18 to 24 months and such, right? So you usually have a video training and then a course like the curriculum of the PDF, okay, that’s a lot of the baby sleep training courses that are out there. Maybe have three or four modules on structuring the day, the bedtime routine, the put down process, and then how to handle overnight wakings. And there’s your little mini course, you know, which is all really well and good. So there’s a lot of those out there. I think the prices range anywhere from like 100 bucks to like 300 bucks for the courses. It depends on whose course you’re buying. I can tell you they’re all the same. Sleep steps is structured similarly as well, there’s only a few ways my friends to sleep train a child. So I want to be very clear that, like, nobody has some magic sauce that’s like, you know, I’m going to never have your baby cry a second single tier. I’m going to make sure your baby’s stuffed like Porky the pig. And, you know, like, I see all these different like, tag lines around courses, and that’s great. I mean, our course is called Sleep steps, but it’s intentionally called Sleep steps, because there are gradual steps to get sleep, right? So when you start to look at these courses, they’re all generally the same, right? They’re going to either talk to you about the nap schedule, right, the structure in the day. But ultimately, what are you doing to sleep? If you’re sleep training your baby, it’s because you’re doing something to get them to sleep that’s not desirable for you. Rocking to sleep, bouncing to sleep, feeding to sleep, nursing to sleep. Anything with the word to sleep means that your child has a reliance on you to go to sleep, which means that every time overnight they pass through their cycles, they’re waking and they’re going, well, I need that thing to go to sleep, right? So they’re never going to grow out of it. They need to be taught that they actually possess the skill of independent sleep, which grows over a period of about three to five days while the reliance on you lessens, okay? And that’s typically sleep training. There’s four methods to. Sleep Train, and I will explain those four methods here, because there’s no secret sauce. Nobody has a secret method that’s like, I’m going to blow on your baby’s face once and they’re going to pass out. Like, it doesn’t work that way. Sleep is a skill, okay? And you have four methods. You have what’s called the pickup put down method, which is where you really do try to minimize tears, but that method is really only for starting to teach gently, without tears, a newborn how to go to bed. Okay, so it’s generally three months and under after that, you cannot use it. Your baby is going through too many different things, and they’re more wake alert and aware, and they will also get more pissed when you try to do that, because they have a reliance on you to go to bed. So that’s the pickup put down method, generally, again, for like, slowly and gradually teaching a baby to sleep longer with that type of method. Okay, the second method is what is called interval based check ins, the leave and check the interval based method, the further sleep training. Right now, each of us, I’m sure, have different ways in which we do, that I know for sure here at Tiny transitions, we do use a more check in based approach when a parent wants that, or when a baby’s personality deems that that’s the most appropriate. But it’s not as black and white as like, oh, just do that method. Like we do things very intentionally. I can tell you it should take on night one when you are sleep training. And I say this with full confidence after 10 years and 1000s of children, 40 minutes to put your child to bed, okay, whether you’re in the room or not in the room, 40 minutes, and you’re going to have ebbs and flows, and if you’re doing it right, with the right approach and the right structure to the method, which is what we do differently, I’ve figured it out after 10 years of doing this with so many families, and I confidently say 40 minutes, and every single time, parents are like, I did it in home recently. And the dad’s like, if you can get this kid to bed in 40 minutes, I’ll write you the best review ever. And at 37 minutes, the kid was asleep in the crib. The parents are like, Wow, that really wasn’t so painful, right? So that’s interval based check ins. It’s called, and everybody’s going to have a little Swizzle on how they do it differently, but that’s essentially what they’re doing. It’s interval based check ins at certain points, everybody’s different on that okay, then you have stay in the room. Sometimes parents want to stay in the room. Frankly, sometimes your baby does not want you in the room. You are creating more confusion for them, so you want to be the hero and stay in there and they’re more pissed off that you’re there. Other times, babies do really well with you staying in the room, and they want you to stay and you are comforting to them, but that’s your baby’s personality and some key things that we talk through as to like signs to understand what type of method makes sense. That is what’s called the stay in the room method, or the chair method, or the shuffle right, or the sleep lady shuffle right, like all of those methods are basically gradually quote shuffling or gliding or skating, or whatever you want to call it as an adjective, getting out of the room right, you’re creating less reliance on you and more growth of the skill of independent sleep. Again, we do this a little bit differently than others, to minimize the upset, but also to be very clear on what a child wants when you start

and you know, offering that support and engagement as a child’s going down and then gradually weaning. Okay, so that’s that method, and then you have crying it out, which is pretty much self explanatory, and frankly, what Most pediatricians tell you to do, which is, put baby in the crib and walk out. We don’t teach that. There are definitely parents that do that. And it works fine, because it is doing what a doctor explains it will do, which is allowing your child to learn they possess the skill to settle to sleep. And they do generally first night. And you know, it gets gradually better, about 50% every single day from there. Okay, so I want to explain like, when you are looking for a sleep training course, understand that that’s what you’re getting. You’re getting videos and you’re getting a PDF. That’s it. Now, if you want to talk to somebody because you think your baby might have reflux or colic, or you’re traveling, or you went away to Grandma’s for a week, and things went to hell in a hand basket, and you’re just not quite sure what’s going on, then you gotta pay to talk to somebody. Okay, generally, it’s between 102 $100 of an additional cost, which, frankly, at that point, if you’re buying the course for a couple 100 bucks, and then you gotta pay another couple 100 bucks talk to somebody. I would just hire a private sleep coach, right? Because you can find one, especially the new ones that don’t charge enough. But it’s also because they’re inexperienced, and you can work with somebody privately, but just understand that generally, when a sleep consultant is not charging that much, they have not done this very long because they don’t realize you’re spending 10 to 15 hours with people and providing a lot of support, right? But you know what? Take them up on it. If you can find someone who you know, you’re confident, can frankly, get your sleep fixed, but also knows what they’re doing. The question I always ask when I tell people like, Hey, if you’re looking for someone like tiny transitions, is not the cheapest sleep consultant by far. You know why? Because we provide the most experience, the most value, the most support, the most everything. So if you’re comparing. He says, You’ll never going to pick us, but you know what? If you want results and you want support and you want to have a great experience, people do pick us every single day, right? But you have to do what works for your family. But just understand the number one question you ask, how many people have you worked with? Not? Where did you certify? Because, no offense, my husband’s a CPA at a commercial Lumber Company. Okay, tomorrow he could launch a baby sleep certification course. He could charge you $400 you could be certified in the Adam Zentz sleep consulting method. And everybody thinks that’s good. There is. He’s a CPA, like anybody can create certifications. Anybody can certify you on their quote method. And there is no regulation in the space of sleep coaching. So just understand that friends, anybody you could be talking to, who one day was like creating and designing Stanley’s and the next day is a baby sleep trainer. Okay, so you have to understand experience in this particular space, because everybody thinks this is like the new fun job, and they are totally inexperienced in helping you, because your baby is different and they are unique, and they are going to need coaching my friends, which is why sleep steps is so different, because that membership program includes two weekly live hours where you jump in and ask questions and you get your answers like we coach you, back and forth. You’re talking to me, we’re talking back and forth, right? And you have the community where you can ask unique questions about your child and get hope from myself or one of our certified sleep consultants on the team.

If you don’t have the 800 or $1,000 to

work with us privately, pay the 47 bucks and join sleep steps like, it is such a no brainer, and it’s so cool that I get to do it. And people are like, Why are you charging so little? I’m like, It’s not about that, it’s the fact that, like, your kid’s gonna have bad sleep for the next four years of their life. Pay 47 bucks, come in for one month and get sorted and be done and then come back, or stick around, because you just want to know that you have somebody in your back pocket. Great. Or join our lifetime access. It’s 300 bucks, and you have this for as long as you need, for whatever you need, whenever it comes up, like the programs I’m trying to create to make a true impact on sleep, right? You’re going to need coaching. That’s the blue ocean opportunity. When it comes to the best baby sleep training courses, they don’t offer coaching. You have to buy the coaching at separate Okay, and understand what type of coaching it is. If you buy it 120 minute phone call. Good luck. You need help and support. When you’re doing this, your baby is different. There are so many things that go on, especially the first year, that we can pick out in two seconds when we’re talking to you live on the phone, that going back and forth with a consultant for 20 minutes once isn’t going to be able to help you solve because you’re going to get advice to do something, and then it’s either going to work or not, and then what? Now you’re out of phone calls. You got to book another one, right? And that’s just not intentional in the way I wanted to run my business. It’s very intentional in the way they want to run their businesses, which is pay to play. And I’m doing this in a different way, and I’m doing it for a variety of different reasons, but ultimately, because I want every parent to have access, access to quality, amazing sleep education. You get the course, you get the coaching, and you get the community all in one place for less than a cup of coffee a day, my friends and it is a beautiful program. So I want you to just understand that there’s a lot of baby sleep training courses out there. Look at what you get with the course as you’re assessing them, right? And look at the ages and the stages. Mine is all inclusive. It’s the only all inclusive program. It’s $47 and it includes the coaching and community. And you can come once and you can leave, there’s no long term commitment, or you can come and stay, which is what we envision, creating a community of parents who are there to support each other, creating that village that people want, with trainings every month, and sleep support when you need it, and just all kinds of great stuff, because we really do want you in our village. So if you’re looking at a baby sleep training course and you’re trying to figure out what the best baby sleep training course is, I would say start with tiny transitions and sleep steps. It’s right out on our website, right at the top of the menu bar, sleep steps, the membership program. And take a look at it. I promise you will love what you see. But do your research. If you’re just like you know what? Let me just check and let me see what other people think we are not the largest one, okay, but I can tell you that biggest isn’t always better. My friends, there’s a lot of Facebook ads out there, of which we don’t run because we have a big enough business not and a great reach in programs like this and through our organic content that we put out on our blogs every single week and in our newsletters that I’m sure you’re receiving, and if not, jump on out to our website, and we’ll get you into getting some of those, and I just encourage you to follow us here. You can find me over on Instagram at Tiny transitions. We’re working on our tick tock game, but frankly, I don’t want to invest too much time over there, if they’re going to just shut it down. So find us over on Instagram at Tiny transitions. Or you can go out to tiny transitions. Com again. My name is Courtney Zentz. I have been a sleep coach for almost 10 years. Do lots of mentoring and writing and coaching, and I’m always happy to support families with children at every age and stage. And I appreciate you tuning in, and look forward to hearing from you shortly, either out on Instagram or out in the sleep steps community. I hope you have a great rest of the day, and we’ll talk to you soon. Bye for now, one more thing before you go. Did you know that we offer the industry’s first affordable and effective, self paced sleep coaching program that includes time with a pediatric sleep expert here on the tiny transitions team. It’s the industry’s first and only membership program like this that you can cancel anytime. And the best part, it’s cheaper than a cup of coffee every single day. So say goodbye to the ebooks and courses that are not helping your child sleep better and join sleep steps today, the most comprehensive sleep education you need to get everyone sleeping through the night. Learn more by visiting tinytransitions.com