@instrument150 It did. Maybe slightly more than sleep club. I think looking back both things were helpful in their own way, but the cradle coach was definitely better in regards to feeling supported. I think that in my case, a bigger step into sleeping better was knowing that it is not all or nothing. Babies will cry, not because they are sad, but because that is the only way they can communicate. I spent MONTHS trying different no cry methods and feeling like a failure if baby cried at all. I had to learn that even no cry methods doesn't mean baby wont have opinions. They were very good at holding my hand through the process and really working with me knowing that I was having a hard time letting baby cry at all(1st time mom). They gave me a schedule and the constant emailing back and forth was really what I needed. They did ask for baby to stay in his crib for the full duration of his nap though, and as a stickler for rules, I wanted to follow them but also, if baby woke up earlier, I basically agonized over it. In the end, I decided to follow their plan but make it fit what feels right for us (seems obvious now lol). So we followed the schedule and tried to keep him in his crib, but if he needed help, we would gently help him or understand that he was done with his nap. They also want to have baby on a food schedule which for my boob obsessed baby, didn't work. So we just didn't do that. Eventually he stretched out his feeds on his own.
Did their help change everything and help baby start sleeping through the night? No. But it did change some things for the better. He slept longer stretches, I knew what to expect and I had someone I could bounce ideas and worries with and It made me a little bit more confident.
I think it was helpful, but also I needed to find what worked for us and be a bit more firm when advocating. Like, at one point, baby was doing great on a 2 nap schedule even though he was "supposed" to be in a 3 nap schedule. He just needed less sleep then and I had to break the rules. We sort of used a bit of both resources because our baby is a bit wild. He did great on a by the clock schedule and now at almost 2, he sleeps 11hrs at night with a 2hr nap from 12-2. He didn't fully sleep through the night until a year old tho. But im told that other babies are easier. However, after sleep training it was definitely waaay better.
I think we ended up with a combination of: refining what I was okay with, crying wise, pausing before going in, having baby on a schedule with slightly less sleep but using gentler methods (fuss it out and pupd) and also, age. It got easier with age. He was waking up only once and then after the year, sleeping through the night.
Im sorry, this is so rambly lol.
