The Gentle Sleep Coaching Philosophy
Here’s a Secret Many Parents May Not Know…
Children are not naturally equipped with the ability to put themselves to sleep. Just as we teach our children to tie their shoes or ride a bike, falling asleep is a learned life skill and they rely on our guidance to master it. What sets Gentle Sleep Coaching (GSC) apart from other methods is the strong belief in responsive parenting. With this approach, you’ll be there for your child, responding to their cries as they navigate the process of learning this new skill of falling asleep independently. We will aim to strike a balance between comforting your child through this learning process and allowing them to develop the ability to soothe themselves. While I can’t promise your child won’t cry during this process, the goal of the GSC method is less crying. What I can assure you is that I won’t ask you to leave your child to ‘cry it out’ alone in a dark room. Instead, our focus is on remaining emotionally available to your child, helping them ease into this new skill. Once they’ve mastered the art of falling asleep, they’ll be on their way to becoming solid sleepers for life.
An Alternative To ‘Cry-It-Out’ Methods
The GSC method was developed by Kim West LCSW-C, a.k.a “The Sleep Lady”, because she found so many parents had difficulty following through with a sleep training program that they feared would damage their child emotionally or fill them with so much guilt they couldn’t follow through. The GSC approach is a gentler alternative for families who emotionally or philosophically resist letting their babies cry it out. It is also for families who believe in co-sleeping but find that their children aren’t really sleeping all that well, even nestled snugly with their parents. Or families who chose to co-sleep for a few months to a few years and now want the family bed to revert back to the marital one. No matter where you currently find yourself, let’s explore your family’s sleep goals and work together to achieve restful nights for the whole family.
You can find many more answers to commonly asked questions on the FAQs page.
The Gentle Potty Coaching Philosophy
Because It’s Not Just About Taking off the Diaper
The Gentle Potty Coaching method is about enabling your child to feel empowered and fostering intrinsic motivation while learning this new life skill with pride and confidence. By centering the potty learning process around the whole child, this method removes coercion, bribery, and shame - which actually hinder development and promote power struggles - and builds a foundation of lasting, healthy self-esteem.
Gentle Potty Coaching…
- Provides science-backed information to avoid common potty training missteps that are often overlooked and potentially harmful.
- Is the only gentle potty method that works with any personality and temperament. Parent and child temperament is an integral part of simplifying the potty training experience for the whole family.
- Is dedicated to minimizing the typical power struggles and conflicts that burden many families during the potty learning process.
- Offers realistic expectations and timeline, unlike typical ‘Boot Camp’ approaches.
- Is intuitive and brings the child’s development, personality and individual needs and abilities to the forefront of the potty learning process.
- Is the first culturally competent training that adapts to cultural considerations to serve a global parent community. The Gentle Potty Coaching method adapts to your child and your family.
You can find many more answers to commonly asked questions on the FAQs page.
