Sleep Training: To Be or Not to Be, That Is the Question

If you ever dreamed about being on Survivor but never got the chance, don’t worry — your baby’s sleep training might just be your real shot to shine.

Days blurred into nights. You’ve finally hit your breaking point — picking up your screaming baby at 3 a.m. for the fourth time that night. A dilemma pops into your mind: to be or not to be, that is the question.

Exhausted but determined, you start researching. You ask ChatGPT about sleep training for a 6-month-old. You Google. You scroll through Instagram and TikTok. The more you search, the more flooded you feel by “conversational” advice — and every piece seems to contradict the last. Suddenly, you’re too tired even to keep searching.

If at the beginning of your search you were trying to figure out how to do sleep training, by the end, you found yourself Googling its impact on attachment styles. Suddenly, the price of a good night’s sleep seemed terrifyingly high: anxious attachment, ambivalent attachment — what if I’m ruining my baby forever?

“Forget it,” you muttered, and crashed back into bed.

But of course, the next week arrived, and so did the same sleepless nights — and once again, a Shakespearean dilemma popped into your mind: to be or not to be, that is the question.

And just like Hamlet, you felt the existential weight of it all — despair, exhaustion, and the haunting question of life’s meaning. Sleep-deprived, you wandered through your days like a half-alive zombie, wondering if this endless cycle would ever end.

Why Is It So Hard to Decide About Sleep Training?

So let’s unpack why it feels so hard to decide what to do about sleep training — or whether to do it at all. The truth is, there isn’t one perfect method or parenting philosophy. What you’re feeling is completely normal: overwhelmed by mountains of information, expert opinions, and mom-blogger advice, all before you even have a chance to develop your own confidence and intuition about what’s right for you.

And yes — I might disappoint you here. I’m not going to warn you about the “hidden dangers” of sleep training on attachment styles, or scare you about the “hidden dangers” of co-sleeping on your child’s future sleep habits. That’s not my style. My style is helping you sort through the noise, build confidence in your own decisions, and trust that you are the best parent for your baby.

Bring It Back to Yourself

Ask yourself: What does my family need? What do I need? What feels easiest and most comfortable for me right now? These questions matter more than any expert debate.

And here’s another tip: try to stick with one parenting philosophy at a time. Mixing two or three conflicting approaches will only drive you insane and leave you second-guessing yourself at 3 a.m. Consistency — not perfection — is what helps both you and your baby feel more settled.

Keep bringing it back to yourself. Ask: What is my tolerance right now? What can I handle? What actually matters to me? What would make my parenting easier, not harder?

As you stick to a parenting philosophy, keep bringing it back to yourself — to your needs, your journey, not to what an Instagram mom, your neighbor, or another parent is doing. Give yourself permission to keep reassessing how this parenting approach is working for you. Parenting isn’t about perfectly following a philosophy; it’s about choosing what fits your real life, your baby, and your values — and adjusting as you learn.

A Final Word

If what you’ve read so far resonates with you and you’d like more support around your baby’s sleep (and your feelings about it), I invite you to schedule a free consultation with me.

I’m Yuliya — a therapist and a mom. I work with mothers who find themselves overthinking every decision, and I help them build confidence in their choices and reconnect with their own intuition. You don’t have to figure this out alone.