Last week I was disappointed and hurt to see some comments made on another website about Baby Sleep Answers and the service that we provide. Several mums had made some assumptions about what we do, which were at best inaccurate and at worst down right wrong. The experience has been upsetting for myself and my team but I was not about to get involved in an online debate with people who had never used the site. As they are not BSA subscribers, they had not seen the advice that we gave to the questions that they had read and on which they had based their assumptions. I am now using my own blog to set the record straight:
1. We work with parents and offer advice that they are happy to follow. If mums and dads are not happy with the first recommendations, then we will always try and find a way forward that suits them and their parenting style.

2. We do not only recommend controlled crying. If a mum and/or dad do not want to use this technique when we will always offer an alternative. Around 50% of the current Forum are using techniques other than controlled crying.

3. We do not believe that controlled crying, if done correctly is damaging to babies. We support parents who have elected to use it each and every day as they implement the technique. It is never recommended for babies who are ill, have tongue tie or reflux that is not responding to treatment.

4. We have a lot of threads started by mums and dads whose baby’s (generally toddlers) make themselves sick at bedtime. This is a problem which is not caused by any technique suggested by the Team on the Forum, but parents do seek help to stop it happening.

It needs to be remembered that poor sleep patterns in baby’s is a real problem for some families. We aim to help both the baby to get the sleep s/he needs (in order to be a happy, well rested baby), but also help the parents to get the rest that they need in order to be great parents and importantly enjoy their baby’s. Yes parenting is a 24 hour job and we need to take the rough with the smooth, but this doesn’t mean having to suffer months and months (or sometimes years) of broken sleep in order to “prove” our nurturing parent credentials. Babies need quality sleep and the team at BSA will help them to learn how to sleep well working in partnership with their mum and dad.