Supernanny Jo Frost

Is there anything more divisive in the parenting sphere than sleep training? Probably not. And TV personality Jo Frost has had enough.

In an Instagram post shared on Tuesday, the Supernanny star shared a video in which she targeted those who are making parents feel bad for trying it.

“Enough with the guilt-tripping against parents who sleep train their toddler-age children,” she said. “Most times it’s needed for the entire family.

“Let’s not normalise parent and child functioning every day on sleep deprivation – because that is what’s harmful to a child’s developing brain and a parent’s mental health.”

She continued: “If you don’t do it, that’s up to you. But let’s stop putting information out there ... that’s misleading parents and guilt-tripping them, because that’s just unkind.”

What is sleep training?

The premise of sleep training is fairly simple: parents are aiming to teach their little ones to fall asleep without their help. So that means no rocking, swaying, feeding to sleep, etc.

But putting it into practice is less than simple. Often it involves a bit of trial and error and possibly some crying while your child figures out how to get themselves to sleep.

When are you meant to start sleep training?

The Sleep Foundation suggests babies aren’t ready for sleep training until they’re about six months old. This is because prior to that “they haven’t developed the circadian rhythms that will help them sleep through the night”.

“Just as there’s no exact right age to begin sleep training, you also don’t have to sleep train,” the foundation says.

“Babies will eventually learn to sleep on their own. However, sleep training is effective and offers significant benefits to both babies and parents, with no evidence of negative long-term........

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