Jeff and Marilena for M.
Somewhat better sleep but unmet…
Somewhat better sleep but unmet guarantees. Batelle has helped our daughter but of the three guarantees they give, two of them have not been met. The staff have been super helpful and supportive, and continue to be even after sleep school finished. We'd also add that when we made them aware of our dissatisfaction, they immediately offered us a refund, which we declined because we're still receiving their help and it didn't feel right. Why three stars you ask? Why not four or five stars? Because of the three guarantees, only one has been met. Why not one or two stars? Because we are using the method, we *have* made progress, and Batelle has been there to help us long after sleep school ended. We enrolled in sleep school and started around the beginning of October 2021. Our 6-month-old daughter was napping like a pro, but taking between one and three hours to put to bed every night, and would wake up two to six times per night. She did not have a feed-to-sleep association. We were drained every night after bedtime. The first four nights went pretty okay and as promised, after that things got tough. The Batelle method is *not* a cry-it-out method, but it's also not gentle. There's potentially a lot of crying, protesting, whining, etc., but as a parent you get to be there to help your child through it (this is the first guarantee, that it's not cry-it-out). But it's still very difficult. The staff were super supportive the entire way through though and even took A LOT of extra time to help us. Fast forward to the end of November. The Batelle method has helped a lot in that our daughter now takes less time to get to bed. Usually 10-20 minutes (the second guarantee, unmet, is that after two weeks, it will take five minutes max). However there's a lot of crying and protesting happening and while some nights are better than others, it's as emotionally draining as those 3-hour bedtimes would drain us physically. Our daughter can usually sleep pretty well for the first half of the night, but she still tends to wake up much earlier (one-to-two hours) than ideal and isn't capable of staying relaxed until her scheduled wake up time (this is the third guarantee, also unmet, that your child will sleep through the night, or wake up and be comfortable enough in their space to let you get the sleep you need). We've worked extensively with Batelle, including the CMO (Miss Megan), and adjusting her schedule has moved us further in the right direction but we still cannot declare victory. From what we've experienced, Batelle *does* work. We just happened to be one of those exceptional cases (it's unclear if we're 1-in-10, 1-in-100, 1-in-1,000,000, etc.). Would we recommend Batelle to friends? Honestly, if they would be as sleep deprived as we were, yes, totally. But we'd temper their expectations and let them know what to expect, because we don't think it's for everyone. The main reasons we'd recommend Batelle are: 1) The chance that any one child is the exceptional case for which the Batelle method doesn't work well seems to be very small. 2) The staff are super supportive and are always there for you during sleep school. 3) The educational experience you gain, not just from the workshops but from learning how your child reacts, is invaluable. 4) We would've easily paid twice the cost to get our daughter to sleep better and to get our sleep back. The main reasons we'd caution against jumping in head first: 1) If you can't deal with your child crying at all, Batelle will not work for you. This is not a gentle method, but you will NEVER let your child be in distress for even one moment without responding to them and supporting them. 2) There's always the chance that the method won't work, or work as well as promised, for you and/or your child. Again, we'll point out that when they become aware of our dissatisfaction, they simultaneously offered us a refund and offered more and continued help with Maya. We turned down the offer of a refund because we consider all the help they've been giving us very worth the cost. We're still working with them now (it's now about 2 months post sleep school) and Maya is progressing, but progress is the keyword, her sleep, and especially bedtime, are still a work in progress. Whatever your choice, we know you're reading this because you're having problems with your child's sleep, your sleep, and you need help. Good luck in whatever route you take.