5 Questions to Ask When considering sleep training

Sherri Morris

Informed consent is defined at "permission granted in the knowledge of possible consequences, typically that which is given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with full knowledge of the possible risks and benefits." 

The CNY Doula Connection strongly believes our clients have the right to use informed consent when making decisions in their pregnancy, birth and postpartum periods.  We educate all families we work with to use the BRAIN acronym when having conversations with their providers and researching their options.  When using the BRAIN acronym we ask ourselves these 5 questions:

• What are the Benefits?
• What are the Risks?
• What are the Alternatives?
• What does my Intuition say?
• I Need time...can you give me some time to think about it?

We encourage clients to use informed consent throughout their lives when making any type of decision that requires weighing the benefits and risks.   

So what does informed consent have to do with sleep training you ask? Well nearly all pediatricians will recommend, at some point, that parents sleep train their babies.  Pediatricians, like many medical providers, will often only present the benefits of any type of intervention to parents, stating that there are no risks to said intervention. Sleep training is no different.  It is an intervention...and it has benefits and risks. 

Let's apply the concept of informed consent to sleep training. The following infographic includes clickable links to research and articles and can help you determine if sleep training your child is right for your family.

​If after looking at the research and weighing the benefits and risks you decide sleep training is NOT the best option for your family, please feel free to reach out to our certified Infant Sleep Educator and trained Baby-Led Sleep Coach Sherri Morris for support in how you can get more sleep without sleep training!
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Contact Sherri for a Free 15 Minute Consult

Copy of [Original size] BRAIN sleep training by smmorris3

Citations
​[1]http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5962992
​[2]https://www.thebabysleeppractitioners.co.nz/blog/the-biggest-mismatch-human-babies-vs-western-child-rearing
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21517171/
[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21517171/
[5]http://www.childwitnesstoviolence.org/uploads/2/5/7/9/257929/higley._dozier_sleep_article1.pdf
[6]https://www.nytimes.com/article/sleep-training-regression.html
[7]https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/142/6/e20174330
[8]https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03004430.2017.1378650?journalCode=gecd20
[9]https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/safe-sleep/Pages/Safe-Sleep-Recommendations.aspx
[10] https://sarahockwell-smith.com/2017/07/24/the-rollercoaster-of-real-baby-sleep/
[11]https://www.cnydoulaconnection.com/postpartum-care.html
[12]https://www.cnydoulaconnection.com/sleep.html
[13]https://raisedgood.com/how-i-healed-my-postnatal-depression-without-sleep-training-my-baby/