WHAT IS THE IDEAL TIME TO TEACH INDEPENDENT SLEEP?

We believe the ideal time to begin teaching independent sleep is between 4 and 6 months. From a development standpoint your baby is beyond many of the larger developmental leaps that occur during the newborn stage and babies can begin to start consolidating sleep. Do you have an older baby? No problem! There are more factors than age, including child & parent readiness! If you’re ready, let’s chat!

In addition to age, we also recommend that your baby healthy, ready to reduce night feeds, not showing signs of teething, with no plans to travel or get shots around the time of sleep training.

MY BABY IS UNDER 4-5 MONTHS, WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE?

Babies younger than this age range may not be quite ready for sleep changes. We offer overnight Postpartum Doula support to help you get plenty of rest until your baby is developmentally ready to be sleep trained.

DO YOU HELP TODDLERS?

Yes we do! We typically work with kids up to 6 years of age. We will tailor a plan that works for your toddler’s personality, developmental stage, and take into account what hasn’t been working for you. Our in-home support allows us to support you and your family in real time and ensures success!

WHAT METHOD DO YOU USE?

Our unique method is not one that you’ll read about in books, because we believe that books don’t know your baby! We combine tried-and-true methods with an ability to adapt based on your little one's personality, natural rhythm, temperament, and your family's goals. By customizing our approach based on your baby and your family, we help your baby get 10-12 hours of night sleep as quickly as possible. We have a 100% success rate when working with in-home clients and are committed to helping you through entire program until your baby or toddler is sleeping better!

DOES YOUR PROGRAM INVOLVE “CRY IT OUT”?

We know hearing your sweet baby cry isn't your idea of fun and that is why we work diligently to make sure all of your baby's needs are met before we begin the sleep training process. Some tears are expected and completely normal but we do not subscribe to “cry it out” techniques. Change is hard. Learning new things is hard. And your baby may get frustrated through this process. We do our best to keep the tears to a minimum. If your baby is crying more than you feel comfortable with, talk to us about it. We want to be conscious of your comfort level and are able to adjust the plan as needed.

WHAT IF MY BABY DOESN'T SLEEP?

We know this is a common fear. In fact, we hear it during every single assessment call. Simply put: your baby will sleep. We are committed to this working and recognize the investment, both financially and emotionally, that you are making by trusting us. Your trust is important to us, as is your baby’s success in learning independent sleep skills. It won’t look perfect at the beginning and there may be some setbacks along the way, but we are by your side through it all. It should also be noted that if we don’t think we can help you, we’ll tell you during your sleep assessment call. We won’t take you on as a client unless we’re 100% certain that we can help you and your baby.

YOU MENTIONED SETBACKS, WHAT DO THOSE LOOK LIKE?

Setbacks can happen and it’s not something we fear when sleep training your baby. It’s typical when your baby is sick, teething, going through a developmental leap or has gotten some shots. If you travel to a different time zone or there is a big disruption in the day-to-day schedule setbacks are a possibility. This is why follow up support is included - so we can help guide you through any setbacks that arise.

OUR CHILDREN SHARE A ROOM, WILL THAT BE A PROBLEM?

Our method works even if your kiddos are sharing a room! Whether you have multiples or a younger sibling is sharing a room with the older sibling, this can still work! In some cases, it may be necessary to move each child to an independent sleep space for the live-in training, but once sleep trained your baby should have no problem sleeping in a room with their sibling(s).

WHAT IF WE ROOM SHARE OR CO-SLEEP WITH OUR BABY.

Room sharing & co-sleeping is a common parenting choice and we totally respect your decision to do so. However, when it comes to sleep training, room sharing with parents or co-sleeping can be confusing for your baby. In order for your baby to sleep 11-12 hours without interruption, he or she must learn to fall asleep on their own and sleep through the night without disruption. Having parents in the same room or in the same bed can stunt that process or sometimes make it impossible all together. We recommend that your baby has an independent sleeping space to ensure success. Bonus: you'll get better sleep too! That said, if you plan to continue to co-sleep or room share, we can still provide guidance for improving sleep overall, however, the expectations and final result will look a little different. When you submit an inquiry form, please share more details about your desired sleep situation and desired results and we’ll chat more about it.

I AM EXCLUSIVELY BREASTFEEDING, CAN WE STILL WORK WITH YOU?

Yes!! We work with all families, whether they breast or bottle feed. But feeding to sleep is an association that we will eventually want to eliminate. This doesn’t mean you can’t keep nursing or that you can’t cuddle or bond with your baby before bed, but our goal is for your baby to learn to fall asleep independently without the help of a bottle or breast. During your program, we walk you through this process step-by-step and make sure that you and your little one still enjoy the bonding that comes with feeding!

WHAT ABOUT SLEEP REGRESSIONS?

Ahhh, yes. You’ve either read about or experienced the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. First of all, we don’t particularly agree with the negative focus surrounding sleep regressions. We get why people don’t love them, but we like to flip the script when it comes to them. What many people call “regressions” are actually “progressions” that involve huge developmental leaps. This period of time includes lots of FOMO for your child due to all the new things. While developmental leaps are wonderful for your baby’s brain growth and skills, it can be especially hard on parents. Once your baby learns to fall asleep and stay asleep on his or her own, you'll notice less wakeful periods and you won't need to be up to soothe them back down. Often families call us around this time because they're losing sleep. We can definitely help!

WE’VE TRIED EVERYTHING, CAN YOU REALLY HELP US?

Nearly all our clients have “tried everything,” from working with remote baby sleep consultants by phone to reading all the sleep training books. While these various approaches may work for some families, we know from personal experience that often the plan in the books or from the consultant doesn’t always work in the middle of the night, which tends to be the hardest part of the day for parents. When we stay with you, we have the ability to tweak our strategy minute-by-minute based on our expert observations and your baby’s behavior. This helps your baby learn to sleep independently in the fastest, easiest way possible and provides you support too!

DO YOU OFFER OVER-THE-PHONE or VIRTUAL SERVICES?

We do take a limited number of virtual clients. Virtual support typically includes a virtual or in-person consultation and monitoring of bed/nap times via a Nanit or Nest camera that you provide us access to. We provide you with a customized sleep plan, help you get things set up properly, then we text, phone, or video chat with you throughout the program. Just like the live-in support, we’re observing your baby’s behavior, logging notes, and making recommendations based on what we see. For more information on our virtual options please submit an inquiry.

DO YOU RECOMMEND ANY SLEEP TRAINING BOOKS I CAN READ?

If you read 100 different sleep training books you’re going to get 100 different opinions on how to sleep train your baby. That is why we don’t recommend reading any specific sleep books. We’ve read a lot of them and they often offer a one-size-fits-all approach and are unable to address the unique nature of your baby’s own sleep. Books don’t know your baby and the author of those books won’t be there at 2am to help you make adjustments or answer your questions. We will. Your live-in sleep coach gets to know your baby and can provide expertise and guidance to make any necessary tweaks along the way. She is with you if there’s a middle of the night waking and knows exactly how to help your baby get more sleep!

CAN YOU STAY LONGER THAN 72 HOURS?

Yes! While we find that most babies acclimate to the new changes within 3 days and 3 nights, but we do have packages that involve longer stays. The extra accountability and peace of mind will only make things easier on you and your baby. While 72-84 hours is the average, we offer packages up to 14 days of live-in or overnight support for those that want it. Please inquire specifically about longer packages and we’ll send you information about our rates.

WHAT FORMS OF PAYMENT DO YOU ACCEPT?

Full payment is due in order to confirm your live-in sleep coach. Payments may be made by bank transfer, Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. If you have a Health Savings Accounts (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) then you may be reimbursed for sleep training. Contact your administrator to confirm. All services are non-transferrable, and no refunds are offered for unused services.

DO YOU TAKE HEALTH INSURANCE?

We are unable to accept health insurance.. However, if you have a HSA or FSA connected to your insurance policy, then sleep training is often 100% reimbursable. Contact your administrator to confirm.

WHERE ARE YOU BASED?

Detroit Dreams is based out of Detroit, Michigan but we proudly serve families worldwide. Our colleagues operate out of Orange County, California and Long Beach, California.

ARE YOU WILLING TO TRAVEL?

We're more than willing to travel to you - anywhere in the world! Travel fees may apply. Submit an inquiry and we'll get started!