Frequently Asked Questions

Slumberly’s sleep training services are for babies 4 - 24 months of age.

Your baby must weigh a minimum of 12 pounds by the time sleep training begins. We also ask that you get your pediatrician’s approval to end night feedings and begin sleep training.

For our sleep training method to be successful, your child must still be sleeping in a crib.

If your baby is under 6 months of age, please get your pediatrician’s approval to end night feedings and sleep train.

Yes! Our virtual services and in-home services are offered to families anywhere in the world. (For any travel one hour outside of Boston, MA we ask that the Client cover travel expenses.)

Most clients are able to use their HSA/FSA to cover our in-home sleep training service. Please contact your plan administrator for confirmation.

Avoid scheduling sleep training the same week as a vaccination appointment. It is also important that your house is free of guests during the process. Avoid scheduling sleep training within two weeks of any upcoming vacations or trips. If your baby is sick we will put off sleep training until a later date. Finally, I recommend avoiding scheduling sleep training within a week or two of a major upcoming change (a move, new caregiver starting, baby starting daycare).

While it’s ideal that your baby has their own sleeping space once the sleep training process begins, there are exceptions to this. Please contact us to find out more information.

At Slumberly, we expect your baby to cry some during the sleep training process. Why? Because crying is one of the few ways babies can express frustration. Most babies experience frustration during the sleep training process because change is hard. It’s much more appealing to fall asleep in your arms while drinking a warm bottle. However, these dependencies make it hard for them to achieve the level of restorative sleep they need for optimal development.

The good news? Babies always learn faster than we think they will!

Thankfully no! Among numerous other studies showing that sleep training is not harmful for babies, a recent study found that extended periods of crying during sleep training did not cause emotional or behavioral issues, or changes in attachment, at a 12-month follow-up. Rather, at a 12-month follow-up appointment, they found that the babies who were sleep trained fell asleep more quickly, woke fewer times during the night, and cried less throughout the day at a 12-month.

The reality is that learning new skills can involve crying; from learning to fall asleep independently, taking their first steps, to starting daycare, children must learn a whole host of skills early in their life and some crying is inevitable.

The good news? On the other side of their frustration is a well-rested, joyful baby who will thank you for giving them the gift of sleep.

Every baby is unique, so while we use techniques that are successful with the majority of babies, we may need to adjust our approach based on your baby’s specific needs or temperament, or your sleeping situation.

In order for sleep training to work long-term, your consistency and willingness to follow our methods are KEY. For example, if you reintroduce nighttime feedings after they have been dropped or bring your baby back into your bed to sleep after they have learned to sleep in their crib, there is a high chance of regression. In these cases, you can always use our method again to re-sleep train your baby, but we always encourage you to be as consistent as possible so you can support your baby’s ability to sleep independently long term.

Don’t forget, all our packages come with extensive follow-up support for any questions that arise.

For most babies, you will see a significant change in behavior in the first 2-3 nights of beginning sleep training. However, with almost all sleep training methods, children typically experience a night or two of “backtracking” shortly after they begin sleeping through the night.

This ‘backtracking” is referred to as an extinction burst, which is when your child will make a last-ditch attempt to get things to go back to the way they were before sleep training. For example, your child may be sleeping through the night by Night 3, but on Night 5 the child will appear to have regressed and will go back to crying in the middle of the night.

As long as the method is consistently implemented during an extinction burst, we have always found sleep training to be successful.

The good news? If your child does experience an extinction burst, it’s a sign that you’re nearing the end of the sleep training process!

Keep in mind that with all our packages we offer follow-up support to ensure you are confident when facing an extinction burst or any other obstacles that may arise

During each sleep training session, the sleep coach will either stay in a guest room or in a common area in your home and will track the baby’s progress throughout the night using a video monitor provided by the client.

If you live farther than 1 hour outside Boston, clients are expected to put the sleep coach up in a guest room in their home or pay for their stay at a nearby hotel.

For families living 1 hour or more outside Boston, travel fees will be added to the final cost of the sleep training services. (Families are encouraged to use their frequent flyer miles to cover the cost of flights.)

Each overnight session is 12 hours, except for the first overnight which is 13 hours for no additional fee so the sleep coach can observe the bedtime routine.

Yes. For our In-home Sleep Training service, you have the option to add in 3 hours of daytime nap training support on Days 1 and 2. During these sessions, the sleep coach also offers support to establish a daytime schedule that works best for your family. The price is $150 for each 3-hour session.

Yes. In fact, you can begin teaching your baby good sleep habits the day you bring your baby home from the hospital.

Try your best to put your baby in their crib drowsy but still awake for naps and at bedtime. This will help them adjust to falling asleep in their crib independently and will also help them develop self-soothing skills early on.

Plan to have your baby sleep in their crib/bassinet for 1-2 of their daily naps. The other naps can happen when you’re out and about. Around 3 months of age, your baby will become much more aware of the world and it will be harder to get good naps-on-the-go.

When your baby reaches this point, we recommend having the majority of naps take place in a dark room with the white noise machine on. (Do yourself a favor and buy portable black out curtains and pack your white noise machine- these will ensure your baby can still nap while you visit your friends and family!)

We also recommend establishing a daytime feeding schedule (feeding around every 3 hours during the day). This will help your baby build up enough of an appetite that they will take a full feeding. By spacing feedings you will help your baby avoid developing a “snacking” habit which will ultimately lead to full feedings during the day, better naps, and longer stretches of sleep at night.

While almost every sleep training method involves some tears, there are many excellent sleep coaches out there who use more gradual methods. The goal is that your whole family gets the rest you need to fully thrive, whether it’s by working with Slumberly or finding a different coach. At the end of the day for sleep training to be successful, you must be committed to seeing the process through to the end; it will make it easier if you believe in the method being used!

Based on a baby’s weight gain or other factors, some pediatricians may tell a family to go ahead and sleep train, but still keep a nighttime feeding. In these instances, as long as there are no medical issues present, I can work with you to sleep train your little one. Fortunately, there is an effective method for keeping the nighttime feeding while teaching independent sleep skills.