Sleep coaching is the process of parents or caregivers helping a baby learn to fall asleep on their own at bedtime and stay asleep throughout the night. All babies normally wake during the night, but sleep coaching enables them to put themselves back to sleep without requiring the assistance of a parent. Therefore also allowing you a full night’s sleep. Babies are not born with the ability to put themselves to sleep or self-soothe. Up until about the age of four months, babies’ neurological and biological systems are underdeveloped and they rely on you for their every need. Therefore, they may not always be able to soothe themselves to sleep.
Sleep coaching methods were first formally introduced in 1959. Williams was the first in the field of sleep coaching to apply the method of extinction or more commonly known as the “cry it out” approach. Graduated extinction also known as the “modified cry it out” approach was first devised by Rolider and Van Houten as a more parent-friendly alternative to the “cry it out” approach. Sleep coaching methods have since evolved based on these original researchers’ ideas. To date, all of the baby sleep books and programs on the market are based on this past research.