Episode 48: Sleep Training: What we Know (and what we DON’T KNOW) from the Research with Amanda Ruggeri

This week Rachael and Amanda Ruggeri, a journalist specializing in psychology, parenting, and child development, discuss the ever controversial topic: sleep training. Amanda speaks about her articles on baby sleep and sleep training and the research behind them.

Here’s what they discuss inside this episode:

• Understanding biologically normal, healthy baby sleep


• The problematic messaging around sleep training


• Are we just extinguishing baby's signaling?


• Is sleep training truly teaching self-settling skills?


• Is the sleep quality or duration better for babies who are sleep trained vs not?


• The importance of providing parents with the full picture & allowing them to make informed decisions


• The cultural differences in attitudes towards baby sleep, bed sharing etc.


• Social media misinformation, biases and logical fallacies


• The problem with overly relying on internet “experts” and “data” for parenting decisions


• & so much more!

Amanda Ruggeri is a multi award-winning journalist specializing in psychology, parenting, and child development. She also covers media and science literacy, including on her Instagram page and in her column for the BBC, "How Not to Be Manipulated". As a triple-citizen who has lived in four countries, she's especially interested in breaking topics down from not only a scientific, but a cross-cultural, anthropological, and historical, perspective. Her stories on infant sleep - including the science of healthy baby sleep and what we do and don't know about sleep training - have been read by more than 3 million people worldwide. You can find her work most frequently on the BBC's science section, Scientific American, New Scientist, and the Jacob Foundation's BOLD.expert, as well as on her Instagram page @mandyruggeri.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Amanda's website: https://www.amandaruggeri.com/ 


• Amanda's instagram: @mandyruggeri 
  


• 
  What really happens when babies are left to cry it out? 


• The Science of Healthy Baby Sleep 

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✨For sleep support and resources, visit heysleepybaby.com and follow @heysleepybaby on Instagram! 😴☁️🤎✨

Rachael is a mom of 3, founder of Hey, Sleepy Baby, and the host of this podcast.