This time of year can be super busy and stressful. If you have a child who is not sleeping, you may be thinking that it’s time to make changes. A lot of families have extended time off over the holidays and consider sleep training. Should you sleep train during the holidays? Here are some things to consider when making your decision.
What is the Sleep Issue?
Is the sleep issue something that has recently popped up or has it been around for months or even years? If you feel your child has just been on a slow slide and had relatively good sleep habits before, it may be the right time to get things on track before the holidays. You may be able to make some quick changes and get some better rest. However, if the sleep issue is much larger, such as wanting to move your bed sharing three year old to his own room, this type of large change may not easily happen over the holidays.
Keep in mind it can take up to two weeks to see improvements when making consistent changes. If you are working on bigger changes with older children, it may take longer.
Where Will You Be During the Holidays?
Are you planning on hosting holidays at your home or are you going to Grandma’s for a week? If your family will be traveling during holiday breaks, it’s likely not the right time to sleep train. Consistent sleep environments will help children adapt to change. It’s not fair to sleep train in a hotel or when a child is sleeping in a new space in another home. Save the sleep training for when you get back home.
If you are hosting holidays at your house and the interruptions will be fairly limited, it may be possible to make changes. Keep in mind the excitement of the holiday season often comes with activities that last later in the evening. Unexpected visits and such may come up. If your family tends to be spontaneous at this time of year, consistency may be hard.
Are The Changes for Your Family Or for Someone Else?
We all want to show our in-laws what wonderful parents we are and have children that go to sleep without a peep and don’t wake until morning. The arrival of guests and the potential judgment can be really stressful! But, this in itself is not a reason to sleep train. If you have family coming to visit for a week and you have a child that doesn’t sleep well, it’s probably not the right time to sleep train. Give your visitors some ear plugs and a white noise machine if you are worried they will wake up in the middle of the night.
Sleep Training is More Than a Method
A lot of families think sleep training is just letting your child cry it out. If you’ve followed us for a while, you know there is so much more to it than that. A sleep training method is not going to work if other elements of healthy sleep are not addressed (such as sleep timing, environment and routines). If your family needs an overhaul of all of these things, it’s probably better to wait until the holidays are over.
There’s Never a Perfect Time
Change is hard and there may not be a perfect time for your family to sleep train. If you feel that sleep training over the holidays is the only time that will work for your family, keep your expectations in check. Improvements may take longer if there are late nights and other interruptions. If your family can follow the 80/20 (being consistent 80% of the time), it may be possible to make improvements to your child’s sleep…and everyone may have silent nights over the holidays!
If you need help deciding whether you should sleep train over the holidays, contact us. We can help you figure out what’s best for your family.