Consultation FAQ

Wondering how a consultation works? Learn more through our frequently asked questions.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING A SLEEP CONSULTATION?

Our method assumes preparation is the key to successfully teaching your child to love sleep. During the sleep assessment meeting, we investigate your child’s current sleep situation. We almost always give parents some amount of “homework” prior to a sleep consultation to ensure each baby is primed and ready to learn how to sleep. During the actual sleep consultation, we work with you on both nighttime and naps simultaneously. We help you help your baby lead the falling asleep process. We also teach you to respond in a way that supports your child’s needs but encourages independence. All of this is done with an emphasis on the science behind sleep. We find that parents have an easier time staying committed when they understand why their actions make sense. By including you every step of the way, you become empowered. This way, when your baby experiences a bump in the road, you’ll know just how to respond to get back on track. Each initial consultation is followed by several support phone calls. These calls ensure your questions are answered and allow us to tweak things if necessary so you’re comfortable and supported every step of the way.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A PHONE AND IN-HOME CONSULTATION?

Both are excellent choices. If you choose an in-home consultation, we will be there in the moment to help you implement your child’s sleep teaching plan. We get to meet you, hug your baby and see your life. There is no question when we are in your home, we get a better perspective on your situation and this helps many clients feel more relaxed. However, learning over the phone has benefits as well. Telephone consultations encourage parents to take more of a leadership role from the beginning and is our most cost effective option. Rest assured, no matter which package you choose, our goal is always to help your child achieve 11-12 hours of sleep at night and follow a consistent, age-appropriate daytime nap schedule..

HOW DO I KNOW IF A HALF NIGHT PACKAGE WILL BE ENOUGH?

Only you know what level of support you need. Certainly, the more time we have with you the more things we get to talk about. If you arrange for more than one night we can slow down a bit and you’ll have time to talk about questions you forgot to ask the first day. But price is always a consideration too. We do not want you to put yourself into debt hiring a consultant for several nights when you can truly only afford a half-night or a phone consultation. Whatever package you choose, it is our job to get you and your baby sleeping.

DO WE NEED TO STAY UP THE ENTIRE NIGHT YOU ARE AT OUR HOME?

No. This is one advantage of having us with you the first night or so of sleep teaching. After your child falls asleep, we explain everything you need to know to keep it going and then send you to bed. For some couples, this is the first time they’ve shared a bed in a year or more. Your baby needs sleep, but parents need sleep as well. An added benefit, well-rested parents are usually focused parents the next day (who also have the energy to make the daytime extra fun).

DOES YOUR METHOD FIX SLEEP FOREVER? OR JUST TEMPORARILY?

Not at all. While independent sleep is a learned skill for some, it is also a natural process. Some parents find they need to be more consistent on a day-to-day basis to keep good sleep going, but it should never be as bad as it is right now. Sometimes clients need a little extra help down the road due to extensive travel, or general backsliding caused by illnesses or milestones. In these instances, you can schedule a quick call with your consultant and that’s all it takes. Often these kinds of calls last 10-20 minutes and are pro-rated on an hourly basis.

MY BABY FALLS ASLEEP AT BEDTIME, BUT HAS A HARD STAYING ASLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. CAN YOU HELP?

Absolutely. Whether your problem is with naps, repeated night wakings, early morning rousings, transferring your baby to a crib, a seeming hatred for a crib, all of the above, we will fix it. Working on sleep is a lot like losing weight you can’t lose weight in only one specific area if other areas need work too.

CAN A HALF-NIGHT CONSULTATION PACKAGE BEGIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, VS. AT BEDTIME?

We actually get this question a lot. The half-night “Help Me Package” always begins at your child’s bedtime. Being there at the beginning of the night ensures sleep teaching starts off in the right way. If you have problems with early morning rousing and know you want someone to be with you at 4 a.m., we recommend you choose our “Stay With Me Package”overnight package option.

DO YOU HAVE A NAP PACKAGE? MY BABY’S NIGHTTIME SLEEP IS FINE.

We don’t have a specific nap consultation because we find daytime sleeping problems are usually linked to some nighttime issue even if you can’t see it. In cases where the daytime is truly the only problem, we recommend that clients book a half-night “Help Me” package or telephone“Teach Me” consultation.

DO YOU GUARANTEE YOUR SERVICES? WHAT HAPPENS IF I HIRE YOU AND IT DOESN’T WORK?

If you are really struggling we know it can seem as if there is no way out. But this is really going to work! Our insurance, however, won’t let us guarantee our services because some of the results are out of our hands. Parents play a huge role in the success of our process. We do everything in our power to get you to your goal, but we can’t make you do anything. Of course mistakes and misunderstandings happen from time to time. These “slip ups” are not what we are talking about. As long as you follow the customized advice we give you and truly want your baby to sleep better, we will help you and your child get the sleep you all need.

DO YOU USE THE “CRY IT OUT” METHOD?

No. We do not endorse the Cry it Out or “CIO” method. During this sleep teaching situation children are left in a room, ignored completely, for hours on end. The CIO method assumes that crying is what teaches your child and honestly, you do not need our help to do CIO. We believe that parents teach their child by setting them up for success from the beginning. When we work with families we first investigate what is happening in your baby’s life to tackle things may be making it hard for your baby to sleep. This way, when it’s time for your baby to learn to sleep without you it’s as easy as possible. However, in order for us to help your baby learn to sleep independently, we modify the way you interact with your child during sleep times. Most parents can agree that most often when they change their patterned response (as gradual or as caring as it might be) their baby notices and expresses frustration by crying. Nighttime is no exception. But we teach parents how to communicate with their child at night and how to interact when their child needs them. In the end, doing some important homework and following our advice will help your baby quickly realize what you already know getting a good night’s rest feels great!

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET IN FOR A CONSULTATION?

In many instances, the soonest we can get families on our schedule is one week from the day of booking. However, there is often a wait of several weeks for our in-home consultations. If you know you want to work with us (especially if you need and in-home consultation), we recommend contacting a consultant as soon as possible. Many clients who wait until they need help tomorrow are disappointed to find our immediate availability is limited.

HOW DO I KNOW WHICH CONSULTANT WILL BE BEST FOR OUR FAMILY?

All of our consultants are some of the loveliest people you will ever meet. They were all trained by our team of advisors and each one is a parent themselves. We love them all equally! We recommend reading through their service options and locations and selecting the consultant who will be able to provide the type of service you are looking for. Please know whomever you choose will take good care of you. If your first choice feels like another consultant can help you faster, she will put you in touch with the perfect person. If you truly can’t decide or don’t mind who you work with, simply click the “first response” button and one of them will reach out to you directly. You simply can’t make a mistake.

I HAVE A 5 WEEK OLD AND NEED HELP NOW. CAN YOU HELP?

Extra weary parents are welcome to schedule a call with one of our consultants anytime they are really struggling and need someone to talk to. However, not much “teaching” can happen until a baby is a minimum of eight weeks old gestationally corrected, because your baby doesn’t yet have the ability to learn independent sleep. In fact, we encourage clients to wait for a full consultation package until their baby is at least 12-16 weeks old gestationally corrected. That way, parents know the baby is ready to learn. If you find you are struggling to make it to 12-16 weeks, we suggest you call for reinforcements from friends, family, babysitters, doulas, night nurses, etc. Until then, you can’t make any sleep mistakes unless you are sacrificing your baby’s safety. No new parent should feel ashamed about asking for help when their baby is this young. And when your baby is old enough to learn, we can help you fix the problem and your village of support will rejoice.

MY SON IS 2 YEARS OLD. IS IT TOO LATE TO HELP HIM LEARN TO BE A BETTER SLEEPER?

Not at all! Sleep teaching can happen at any time (our specialty is helping children under the age of 3). Just because you don’t have issues when your baby is four months, doesn’t mean things will stay that way. We always adjust our approach according to your child’s developmental stage.

MY PARTNER DOESN’T BELIEVE IN SLEEP TRAINING. CAN WE SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION WHILE HE OR SHE IS AWAY?

It breaks our hearts to talk to mothers or fathers who know they need to work on sleep, but their spouses are resistant. However, we don’t advise leaving your partner in the dark when it comes to sleep teaching, particularly if you are doing something against their beliefs. Our recommendation is to talk to your partner and perhaps schedule a quick call with a consultant to talk about the benefits of sleep and address concerns on the table regarding sleep teaching. In the end, most parents who are opposed to helping their baby get better sleep are simply afraid of the “rough” techniques on the market or read bad advice somewhere along the way.

MY HUSBAND DEFERS TO ME ON ALL PARENTING MATTERS SO I DON’T WANT TO BOTHER HIM WITH THIS. CAN WE SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION WITHOUT HIM??

Parents who schedule a phone call with a consultant to ask some sleep questions do not need to have their spouse on the phone. But, for one of our sleep packages, both parents MUST participate in both the assessment meeting and the consultation. We understand certain spouses have busy jobs and claim to be on board with whatever the plan is. However, in our experience, we find these very open spouses actually care very deeply when they see changes being made to their family’s universe. After the first night of sleep teaching, the follow-ups can be with just one parent.

I DON’T LIVE IN MANHATTAN, BROOKLYN, QUEENS, NEW JERSEY, WESTCHESTER OR CONNECTICUT. CAN YOU STILL COME TO MY HOME?

Yes, we will travel outside of the NYC Metro Area. In fact, a few consultants will travel great distances, even flying, if necessary. However, given the cost to travel, we usually encourage parents outside of the tri-state area to book our phone consultation package (unless you are completely exhausted and/or can’t proceed without extra support).

WE HAVE A TRIP COMING UP. IS THIS A BAD TIME TO START WORKING ON SLEEP?

It depends. If your trip is at least two weeks away from your consultation date, you should not have any issues with backtracking. We’ve had clients take their children on all sorts of trips (Italy, Japan, South Africa) without problems immediately following their two weeks of sleep training. If you travel soon after sleep teaching the only thing we recommend is ensuring your destination is conducive to sleep (i.e., you can maintain the general sleep schedule we provide and your child has a sleeping space similar to your home). We actually love family travel ourselves and encourage it. Our goal with any sleep plan is to get parents to a place where they are confident and relaxed about traveling with their children. It just takes being very consistent in the beginning to make sure your child has gotten enough practice sleeping in their initial sleep learning environment. If your destination isn’t conducive to semi-regular sleep, we recommend you schedule a consultation for after you return from your travels.

STILL HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT OUR SLEEP SERVICES?

Contact a Consultant or Send us a question via email.

HOW DO I CONTACT DREAM TEAM BABY FOR A GENERAL QUESTION?

You can email us your name and number at info@dreamteambaby.com. We will happily call you back and discuss your situation, what you need, and how to get you there.