Finding the best sleep training method for your family

Learn about: Finding the best sleep training method for your family from Kim West, LCSW-C,...
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Finding the best sleep training method for your family

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So parents ask me all the time, “So Kim, if there’s four different sleep training methods, how do I know what’s the best one for me and my family?” And that’s a really great question. So if you’re not sure and you’re feeling maybe very anxious about crying and you don’t feel comfortable leaving your child all night to learn how to put themselves to sleep, then you have nothing to lose by starting gradual. So staying with your child and helping soothe them to go to sleep. And fade out. And if you find during that first even three to five days, “You know what? I don’t need to be in this room. I can leave. I can see my child is learning how to put themselves to sleep.” I find that parents can then move to more gradual checks and they are more likely to be consistent, because they’ve already tried the gradual method and they found that they’re ready to move out and give their child more time and space to learn to put themselves to sleep. And then they have sleep success.

Learn about: Finding the best sleep training method for your family from Kim West, LCSW-C,...

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Kim West, LCSW-C

Psychotherapist & Author, The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight

Kim West is a mother of two and a Licensed Certified Social Worker-Clinical (LCSW-C) who has been a practicing child and family social worker for more than 19 years. Known as The Sleep Lady by her clients, over the past 12 years she has helped thousands of tired parents all over the world learn to listen to their intuition, recognize their child’s important cues and behaviors, and gently create changes that promote and preserve his or her healthy sleep habits. 

West has appeared on the Dr. Phil, Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, TLC’s Bringing Home Baby  and CNN, and has been written about in a number of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Baby Talk,  Parenting, The Baltimore Sun, USA Today, The Telegraph, The Irish Independent and the Washington Post. West hosts the sleep section of The Newborn Channel, played in maternity wards in hospitals across the country. West is the author of The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy with Joanne Kenen. She is also the author of 52 Sleep Secrets for Babies and The Good Night, Sleep Tight Workbook.

Kim received her master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She lives with her family in Annapolis, Maryland.

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