Have you ever thought about being a Baby-Led Sleep Specialist through Isla Grace before? I became certified over a year ago, and it has been an amazing addition to my breastfeeding support options. Here is an honest review of the Isla Grace Sleep Certification.

If anyone is wanting to become a certified sleep and well-being specialist through Isla Grace, you can get 5% off by using my referral links:

Live Baby-Led Sleep & Well-Being Specialist Certification ($2,800 USD, regularly $3,000 USD)

Independent Study Baby-Led Sleep & Well-Being Specialist Certification ($2,374.05 USD, regularly $2,500 USD) 

If you are a professional already working with moms & babies, you can get certified at a discounted rate:

Independent Study Baby-Led Sleep & Well-Being Specialist Certification for Practitioners ($1,804.05 USD, regularly $1,899 USD)

Not sure if you can pay all up front? Isla Grace also offers two different monthly payment options to make it easier to get started.

Full disclosure – if you decide to go ahead with this training discount, I will receive a small commission. I only share programs that I have experience with and highly recommend.

Why did I become a sleep specialist?

As moms, we all know that sleep is important for ourselves and our families. When I’m working with families, sleep is one of the most common topics that come up. Whether a mom is nursing directly, pumping, or bottle-feeding, she wants to make sure her baby is getting the sleep that he/she needs to develop appropriately.

It is also important to note that maternal exhaustion is correlated with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD). It’s hard for us to be at our best, look after ourselves and be in the right frame of mind when we are beyond tired.

I know how important sleep is for babies and parents.

AND

I know how important responsive parenting is for babies and parents.

Why I don’t recommend sleep training babies

As an IBCLC and nurse, I needed to find a program that aligns with not only my parenting values but also with the support that I am already providing to parents.

When I was reading up on sleep training programs, most of them seemed too good to be true. The majority of programs promised that babies 4 months and older would be sleeping through the night in 4 days or less! This is a huge red flag to me because I know that it is biologically appropriate for babies to continue waking until 12 months and beyond.

These programs involve leaving your baby to cry, whether it is through cry-it-out or timed checks. The sleep industry uses excellent marketing tactics – they will tell you that you are creating a sleep crutch if you feed or rock your baby to sleep. Instead, they encourage babies to be left in their cribs drowsy but awake to teach them how to “self-soothe”.

If you have taken an interest in developmental psychology, you will know that in order to self-regulate, we need to co-regulate with the stable caregivers around us. These first relationships we develop as infants serve as a foundation for how we create loving, secure relationships as we grow into adults,

In addition, I have heard from countless other IBCLC’s that sleep training has negatively impacted their client’s breastfeeding relationship. They found that when babies were trained to sleep longer stretches before they were ready to, milk supply was more likely to dip and many even noticed a drop in their baby’s growth curve. This saddens me so much because I know how hard many mothers work to maintain their breastfeeding relationship.

How Isla Grace sleep specialists are different

Isla Grace Sleep & Well-Being Specialists are different because we don’t use the typical sleep training approaches. We don’t tell parents that cuddling or feeding their babies are bad habits… Quite the opposite! We want babies to develop positive associations with sleep. In order to do this, we need to look at the big picture. We factor in family dynamics, sleep environment, external pressures, maternal mental health, routines, and rhythms, feeding and sleep experiences, and more, so we can help you help your baby sleep better.

The course is very intensive, with 120 modules and weekly live Q&As. To become qualified you must complete a final project with 2 volunteer families. You will need to receive training in an approved lactation course within a certain time frame after course completion.

I am very happy to have completed the Isla-Grace sleep certification and have already been able to help so many families get the sleep that they need, without losing sight of their parenting goals.

Other baby-led sleep & well-being specialist accounts you may know

If you’re still not sure if becoming a baby-led sleep & well-being specialist is right for you, you may want to check out a few other certified baby-led sleep accounts on Instagram. A few of the most well-known accounts include @resting_in_motherhood, @taylorkulik, @heysleepybaby and @kaitlinklimmer. These accounts have all done an amazing job created a sleep coaching business that is rooted in attachment.

Hopefully this article helps you to decide whether investing in the Baby-Led Sleep & Well-Being Specialist certification program is the right decision for you.