Testimonials
Image credit: Sarah Conlan Photography
"I love this group and recommend it to every parent I know. We get better and more sleep due to the amazing suggestions in this group. We haven’t followed outdated advice or had to compromise our values or vision for the kind of parents we want to be."
— Liz Forbes
"I sometimes wish at baby showers, I could just give the new parents a card, and when they open it up, it just has The Beyond Sleep Training Project's link written on it, letting them know this group is the best gift I could possibly share with any parent."
— Jasmine Lowe
"My daughter and I have been saved a world of stress and tears because of this group, which will literally impact the person she becomes. Expand that to every baby of every parent here... we’ve started a revolution of love! Bravo admin team for creating this space. It’s the only reason I still have a Facebook account."
— Maggie Wilson
"This group has been a huge help for me as a first-time mum. I spent the first 5 months in struggle town, feeling like a failure because I couldn’t get my baby to do what he was “supposed” to do. It wasn’t until I found this group that I realised my baby was completely normal. I felt a huge sense of relief and let go of the guilt I was feeling. I’m so grateful to have found it."
— Jade Tolhurst
"The Beyond Sleep Training Project was/is literally the only resource that could support me in putting the following pieces of motherhood together: exclusive breastfeeding, attachment parenting, my own sleep, health and sanity.
I could always count on the group to stand unwaveringly by its ethos, the rock needed by a mother overwhelmed by opinions.
I had other places to go for help specific to each individual piece (ex. My lactation consultant for BF questions, but even then I had to pay a lot out of pocket), but NO ONE could help me figure out how to make it all work together by normalizing bed sharing and responsive nighttime parenting.
The Beyond Sleep Training Project is a special place. It changed my life and my children’s lives. It is the first place I think to go when I’m in the weeds.
THANK YOU"
— Caitlyn
"Out of my close group of friends (6) and my parents group (12), my son was the only child I knew that would never sleep by himself and also wake 45 minutes-hourly. I felt alone, exhausted, confused, desperate. I read books, articles, spoke to doctors, maternal health nurse but never found an answer.
My heart, soul and brain always said no to sleep training so I knew that wasn't the answer but the question remained- what's wrong with him/ why can't I do this/ why am I a bad mum?
One night at 3am as I lay in my bed with my son asleep on me, exhausted, googling for answers I came across an article by the founder of this group.
It was one of her original articles about her son. Tears rolled down my face as I read it, I remember having to hold my hand in front of my mouth to contain my cries and howling. I understood her pain, I knew it, I felt it. I had found another mum who understood me, another mum that had experienced it. The best was she was an Aussie like me.
The next day I googled more about her and found out about The Beyond Sleep Training Project and I joined straight away. I remember again crying when I was accepted into the group. Realising I wasn't alone was a life saver for me, reading about other parents having similar concerns, being able to share mine and receiving advice was just amazing.
I always say two things allowed me to be ok (ironically both discovered on the internet!)- Side feeding whilst co-sleeping and this group. It build my confidence and allowed me to follow my gut and mother instincts.
Thank you from the bottom of heart."
— Sormeh Afkari
"I found this group after struggling for a few weeks with a very unsettled newborn who wouldn't have a bar of "feed play sleep" or feeding intervals recommended by the hospital or "drowsy but awake" or sleeping in a bassinet. After having an awful birth experience where they did a c-section in the middle of the night for no good reason and generally treated me like a piece of meat, I was determined to breastfeed but I felt like it was getting away from me. I'd had no sleep for weeks and my partner was trying to help but if the baby was crying anywhere else in the house I still wasn't sleeping. Our home visit nurse reinforced old-fashioned advice that would have ended up with us formula feeding and sleep training at only weeks old.
Finding The Beyond Sleep Training Project was a huge relief, here was validation of what my instincts were telling me – my baby just needed to be held and fed more, and carried and sleep touching me. We started feeding on demand and co-sleeping, and it was like night and day. My baby started gaining decent amounts of weight, he stopped crying all the time, and I got to sleep again. I just can't believe how regressive and unhelpful so much of the advice I received around baby care was - I'm surprised it is still given out at all because I can't imagine it working well for anyone!"
— Eddy Walker
"One of the hardest parts about being a mother has been doubting myself every step of the way. I knew what instinctually felt right and I was actually enjoying breastfeeding and sleeping with my baby but everyone around me made me feel like I was in crazy town.
This group reassured me that my feelings and experience were valid and I didn’t need to explain or defend myself. It also brought to light how much culture bears on how we raise our babies and our perceptions of the “right” and “wrong” ways. I’ve had to battle against messages that I’m creating bad habits, preventing my son from learning how to sleep, creating a clingy and overly dependent child, etc. This group gave me the courage to think critically about those ideas and really investigate whether they made sense from a biological or evolutionary perspective (they didn’t) and also to reflect on my own morals and values as a mother, as opposed to the values of everyone around me.
It’s this critical thinking and reflection that is so important for breaking generations of parenting advice that is counter to what children and babies really need. I’m so thankful this group exists, there are really no other ones that are this organized, welcoming, and gentle. I also love how we include non-sleep related questions and advice amongst parents who all share similar views."
— Melanie Werthmuller