About Batelle
Batelle is the leading Sleep School for children 0-6 years old:
✅ We are pioneering a different approach to children's sleep, based on building trust, connection and engagement
✅ We understand children's sleep better than anyone, having helped over 5000 families, with the toughest of sleep issues
✅ We've taken these learnings, and create personalized plans for every child, parent and family, tailored to age, sleep issues, medical conditions, parental preferences, child temperament, environment (eg. room sharing with sibling) and other variables (eg. daycare). This gives every parent and child what they need in order to see success and get more sleep.
👉 Read here about the stories from parents choosing a responsive approach 👈
Cry-it-out can work for a lot of families, and if it works for you, that’s great! However, it often doesn’t work, especially in the long-term.
However, the real reason we don’t promote cry-it-out is that we think it misses a unique and impactful opportunity to reinforce a secure attachment between you and your child. We believe that sleep is the perfect opportunity to show your child that you will always show up for them and respond to their needs, even in the tough times.
We know that sleep is a time of vulnerability for a child, and our belief is that how parents engage with their children during these vulnerable times, has the capacity to teach children fundamental life skills and instil a sense of confidence in them that translates to all other areas of life.
It’s best to wait in most cases. We have found that families have the best results when they commit to a period free from distractions such as travel or visitors for the duration of the program, and ideally for 1-2 weeks once the program is complete.
Yes, we cover all things sleep. You’ll work on naps and night-sleep separately though, as we want to make sure your child is getting enough sleep through this transition period by balancing night and day sleep.
We are not doctors, and we do not pretend to be. If, at any point in our program, it seems like your child’s sleep issues result from a medical condition, we will be the first to advise you to leave our program and speak to your pediatrician. Having said that, though, we have successfully supported MANY families who have been told their children’s sleep issues are unsolvable by other sleep consultants, as is evident by this question on our FAQ :-). If you are not sure if this program is right for you, you can always email us to set up a call at bookings@batelle.com. No question is too small when it comes to your children.
You’ll have continued access to content that will coach you through the regressions, and you can always purchase more support from Elle, our AI expert.
Absolutely, we work with a lot of children with strong-willed temperaments. The key thing to understand is when a child is fighting bedtime, or gets really upset or angry when you leave the room, it’s coming from a place of fear. They feel most safe around you. And when you leave, they haven’t yet learned that they are still safe and that you are still there to protect them. When a child has a strong reaction, it’s their “fight” instinct kicking in, in an effort to keep you in the room/ prevent going to sleep etc. The way to address this is through love, reassurance and showing them that they have nothing to be fearful of.
Sounds like your toddler is reacting appropriately for his age! While screaming, kicking, and shouting can be jarring to us as adults, we recognize that this is often totally appropriate behavior for a child who is feeling dysregulated, worried, anxious, or overtired. Behavior is communication. We will guide you on how to hold space for your child’s big emotions and be clear and consistent with your expectations for him.
If your little one needs a lot of reassurance and is sensitive, then we’ll make sure you take a more gentle, slower approach. For these little ones, using a responsive approach will give you the best results as it allows you to nurture them while also helping them learn to be comfortable independently.
Absolutely. We are breastfeeding-friendly. We’ll work with you to ensure you’re still able to breastfeed in any capacity you seek, and we’ll help you wean your child at night if appropriate/desired. If your child still requires a night feed, we’ll structure your program to make allowances for this. Please note that it’s important to consult your pediatrician before changing your child’s feeding routine.
Whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding, weaning is something that will play a big role in your plan if this is your goal. In almost all cases, we recommend weaning slowly and gently to help get your child appropriately adjusted to these changes. We will guide you on exactly what this looks like in our program. Please note that it’s important to consult your pediatrician before making any changes to your child’s feeding routine.
Ensuring room safety is the foremost consideration for open bed setups where children have the freedom to leave their beds. Equally important is a shift in mindset: it's important to recognize that your little one is likely to wander off their bed, and that's perfectly fine! As long as their room is secure, they can explore. We suggest implementing a door boundary, like a child gate, to help keep them safely in their room during sleep. Please know - at no time in this program will your child be left screaming at their gate for you, as you will always respond right when they need you. If you're uncomfortable with this idea, you can be the boundary at the door, taking charge of ensuring your child understands the expectation of staying in their room during sleep time. Our program will assist you in establishing consistent routines and effectively communicating boundaries, fostering trust in your child that you will always be there when they need you while also emphasizing the importance of staying in their room during sleep.
Absolutely. If you feel it is the right time for your family to make this move, we’d love to help you. This is a big change for your child, and we honor that as best we can. please remember that you will be in the room with your child for much of the program, which is helpful in transitioning from co-sleeping.
We understand this is a personal choice and works for many families. As it’s against AAP guidelines, we don’t give advice on how to continue bed-sharing but are happy to help you transition away from it. If you want to continue bed-sharing, you will be able to do certain parts of the program, which will improve sleep but will not get you to the full outcome (as a big part of the program is teaching a child to sleep independently).
Yes! What makes sense for your family makes sense for us as long as your child has their own sleep space.
There will be disruptions, so it’s best to find a way to move your other child to a different room during the program.
If you have not yet made the change, we encourage you to wait until you begin the program so we can include this transition as part of your plan. If you have already moved your child to a different bed or room, no worries at all. We can still fix it!
Yes! The idea here is to get your child to a place where they understand what their sleep space is and feel comfortable in it but can still have occasional nights where they spend time with their parents.
The program typically takes 2-3 weeks to complete. Please note that if your baby is feeding many times a night, this process could take closer to 3-4 weeks as we make allowances for them to adjust more gently.
Yes, however, we advise you to either have two caregivers carrying out the program or to put one child through the program after the other.
This is completely up to you and what works for your family. You can have one parent do the program or take turns. A support person is always helpful, but we understand that situations don’t always allow that, and we assure you that one person can successfully complete the program. The most important thing is that all involved caregivers are aligned in order to minimize inconsistency.
Teething can occur intermittently in children between the ages of four months and four years. Although it can cause discomfort, it generally does not hinder progress in the program. If your child is experiencing significant difficulty or pain, we suggest taking a break until they feel better.
Depending on your little one's age, we suggest a few supplies that can come in handy. The great news is that most families already have them! If your little one is over six months old, we kindly request that you have:
- A baby monitor (preferably with both video and audio capabilities)
- A light with various color and sound capabilities. (Please note that you can also split this and have a light that changes color, or is dimmable and a sound machine separately)
For those who have read about our previous program, please note, we no longer support the Hug or Ring cameras as part of any of our programs.
At Batelle, we promote using age-appropriate wake windows to help manage your little one’s sleep schedule, ensuring the right balance of sleepiness at bedtime. When you enroll, we will assess your little one’s current sleep schedule and suggest modifications if necessary. Our approach to sleep schedules is very flexible and works well for a wide range of family lifestyles.
While we do want to be aware of what daytime sleep looks like in terms of length and time of naps, if your baby is being rocked or fed to sleep during naps, that will not hinder their ability to learn how to fall asleep independently at nighttime.
Yes! Any and all caregivers you want can be added to the App, and will all be able to see 1) the same personalized content and 2) the same chat conversations with our experts. This means everyone is on the same page at all times. We also are happy to coach any additional caregivers as part of the program.
We have worked with children who come from split homes with success. Please be aware, though, that success will most definitely take longer, especially if both co-parents are not aligned in the process.
Firstly, we encourage all parents with children suffering from reflux to consult a pediatrician to establish a treatment plan, if necessary. In terms of resolving the sleep issues that may be present due to reflux, and/or in addition to reflux, we do address managing a child’s reflux at night in our programs, particularly for children under the age of 6 months. While no sleep training program can resolve a child’s reflux, we do share helpful suggestions on how to minimize nighttime disturbances related to reflux. In addition, we know from experience that many children who experience reflux as infants do, as a result, develop unsustainable sleep associations, particularly being held for sleep, that need to be addressed once the reflux passes. The process we teach through our programs has proven to be an excellent solution in these cases.
We no longer offer support from sleep experts, though by purchasing our programs you will have access to Elle, our AI sleep coach trained on data from the thousands of families we've helped get to better sleep.
It’s a combination of videos, video demos, audio and written plans. This is all housed in your child’s journey in the App, and will be curated into a step-by-step plan easy to follow and track progress.
Yes it was! However, over time we learned that we could simplify Batelle's programs and make them more accessible to more families. We've therefore launched new support packages offering the same expert-designed, child-centric approach to improving sleep - but giving different support options to support this journey. We realized that not all families needed such a high level of support, so it didn’t make sense to charge them for it. This shift helps us make quality sleep accessible to more families, without compromising on the personalized experience Batelle is known for.
For those who have read about our previous program, please note, we no longer support the Hug or Ring cameras as part of any of our programs.
Yes, Batelle now accepts both HSA and FSA payments at check-out. You will get a Letter of Medical Necessity within minutes, that should you need it, you can give to your insurance provider.
You can read more about this in our HSA/FSA blog.
The Batelle method is a responsive process that supports your child’s ability to sleep more independently.
Not “forced” into compliance as a result of nights of disengaging.
Not “trained” to stop calling out to you when they need you.
Not “tricked” by putting them down drowsy enough and disappearing.
But really and truly able to sleep without you there with them. If you are thinking, “there is no way, there is no world, where my child ever learns how to fall asleep independently or link their sleep cycles (sleep through the night) independently”…
Welcome, you’re come to the right place.
Read more about our method here.