Successful sleep training

Kim West, LCSW-C and Sleep Expert, shares advice for parents on the most successful sleep training method for their young child
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Successful sleep training

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I'm asked all the time, "Kim, what is the most successful sleep training method because that's the one we want to do." If you look at the science, the science says extinction. If you put the baby down awake, leave the room, they will cry, and don't go in all night long. The problem is that, first of all, it doesn't work. The primary problem with that is that most of the parents that I work with can't do it. It breaks their heart. They go in and start being more inconsistent, and they have more problems. If that's the case, that the key is to be consistent, then I would rather teach parents that. The real key is that you have to pick the sleep coaching method that is right for your child and your values, i.e. the one you can follow through with consistently. That will be your key to success.

Kim West, LCSW-C and Sleep Expert, shares advice for parents on the most successful sleep training method for their young child

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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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