Batelle Sleep SchoolReviews of batelle.com

We signed up for Batelle based on the review on trustpilot, as well as the promises of gentle sleep training. Batelle came up in our search results when we looked for an alternative to CIO and sleep training. They market themselves as aligned with attachment parenting and supportive of breastfeeding and cosleeping, which were all things we were doing, and which became unsustainable when our son was waking every 40 minutes around the clock for months with no consolidated sleep. Since our son was 5 months old, we enrolled in Batelle Babies, which consisted of weekly zoom meetings that walked you through the foundational steps of their method. Seeing other parents struggling with many of the same issues definitely made us feel less alone, although some parents had kids were were already sleeping through the night and waking 1-2 times and I have no idea why they signed up. We faithfully spent a month attending the weekly classes and adhering to the method, which is designed to break negative sleep associations and to replace with new anchors, namely your voice over a monitor, and a "ok to wake" clock. They also use a "hug" which is basically a sleep sack that straightjackets your kid to the mattress to limit their movement. You are also conditioning your child to respond to a "mantra" by playing it continuously on loop throughout the night and singing it upon wake ups. They say that "no cry goes unanswered" and you are always responding, just varying the response depending on the cry level. They method is also a mash up of other sleep training protocols that essentially fade out your presence or other sleep anchors over time. There is a lot of good stuff here, especially since this is such a critical issue for parents like us who are really struggling with severe sleep deprivation. All of the sleep consultants are themselves parents who went through the program so they believe wholeheartedly in the method and seem to have a lot of passion for helping parents and babies transform their relationship to sleep. And no doubt Miss Megan successfully implemented her bespoke method with many children through the years. All start-ups have the problem of scaling, however. How do you generalize the method to reach the most people and make your product work for everyone? Herein lies the problem when it comes to sleep. While all humans need sleep, not all people sleep the same - there are wildly different chronotypes and temperaments. Where it fell apart for us, and likely others, is that after a month plus of working the program, we weren't seeing progress and our son seemed to regress. After one night when the team tuned in to watch our bedtime routine, and our son had been screaming for an hour, the remote team began messaging us all of their theories for why the methods were not working: perhaps we gave him too much daytime sleep, perhaps he was teething, we weren't doing the mantras right, we didn't internalize steps 6 and 7, etc. The real kicker was when Miss Megan said the "entire team feels your son isn't emotionally ready and that you're trying to push him to accommodate your work schedules." Several times I tried to set boundaries - we're in our jammies on the ring camera, our kid was screaming, and I repeatedly said, "this is not helpful right now." But instead of giving us support, they repeatedly admonished us (so we could "understand the situation you find yourselves in"). I also know my kid, and knew in that moment he was overtired and overstimulated. I lost my temper, said a few choice words, and we withdrew. The next morning we checked the app to debrief and found that several messages had been deleted, mostly the ones where the team or Miss Megan had been unkind. We brought that to the attention of the team, who said it must be a technical glitch. My husband is a computer scientist and asked for the app logs, which had the full conversation. We got our refund that day. Batelle may work for some kids, but it did not work for our kid. It was not our failing; he responded very well to another method that was custom crafted for him (mostly to undo the work of Batelle) by a behaviorist. Our son needed NO stimulation - no light, no noise, no mantra - on order to fall asleep. We did a modified check and console and most of his sleep associations extinguished the first night with much less crying than we experienced in Batelle. The big takeaway for us is to rely upon your own intuition for what works or doesn't for your kid. The big takeaway for Batelle should be to recognize the method doesn't work for ALL kids and have some kindness and humility when it doesn't. Also train your sleep guides to know how to support sleep deprived parents. We wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but there needs to be a solution that scales and we wish them the best in figuring that out.

Batelle has literally both saved and changed our lives. We used it for our first born who is almost two and he sleeps straight through the night every night, as well as solid naps every day and his personality reflects this!! We get compliments regularly on how well behaved and how sweet he is and I know in my heart as his mother it is because of this sleep school and his skills learned from it and the incredible team behind it. Miss Megan is so uniquely brilliant and kind and loving, and this is such a gentle approach to teaching your children how to enjoy sleep. I honestly don’t know where both my husband and my mental and physical health would be today if we hadn’t found you. Truly and deeply. We also have a 5 month old and will be starting with the program when she’s 6 months. If you’re considering using Batelle, it will change your lives. We feel we owe you, our beloved Batelle family; the world! As a side note, I don’t know who on earth could give Batelle a negative review. Must be someone who hasn’t gotten enough sleep and is confused. They do NOT subscribe to the CIO method at all. Not even a little bit.

Exhaustion beyond words….. I was nursing 2 to 3 times a night. Up every hour sometimes every 30 minutes. I was following research that I had found on nap schedules etc. But we knew that something had to change. I began looking for a resource to help our 10-month-old. I ran across a testimonial video on Instagram and the parents story really resonated with ours. I reached out to Batelle and that is when we met Emily. She listened, she was kind and very thoughtful in helping us understand what Batelle could offer our sweet family. It really was a no brainer for us, We had tried everything that we possibly could. Our decision was really based on the past success rate, the numbers don’t lie and they offered us a guarantee. We are soo thankful we said yes. It literally changed our lives. Trusting the process is key. The steps are foundational, they build upon each other. The support is like nothing else we have ever experienced. It works, it works, it works!! Our son is on night 26 of choosing sleep for 12 hours. We now have the evenings to unwind, self care and most of all Chayden is getting the healthy space to sleep and grow. Over the last month we have seen a huge change in our ability to stay present and excited for awake time. We know this is a journey, we know that there will be regressions or factors that may impede on his sleep. We are confident that we have the tools in place to lean in and to overcome. We can call on Batelle anytime and they respond, they care and they give hope. I am so thankful for this safe and loving method. It is a game changer that has helped our family thrive.

I've been you. Exhausted and scrolling every bit of sleep advice going. My little one had already seen off one sleep consultant and the only option I had left was CIO. But I just couldn't do it. Then a friend recommended Batelle and it has changed our lives. It isn't the easiest, but it never was going to be as you have to always be there for you child, but if that means you both get sleep without having to leave them alone to cry, it has got to be worth it. The Batelle team are amazing and so supportive. Thank you, Batelle. You saved my sanity. X

I cannot believe that 15 days ago I (and my whole family) was so sleep deprived. After the sleep school, my 8 months daughter is sleeping now 12h at night time and having day naps like a champ. The method developed is very gentle and teaches to the parents how to respond to the child needs. Never CIO! Thanks Batelle, you saved our sleep!

I will forever be grateful to Miss Megan, Polly, and the rest of the amazing Batelle team. We were desperate parents who wanted to sleep My daughter Alleria always had horrible sleep issues. She would take 2-3 hours to go to bed and would wake up multiples and then be up from 1am to 6 am. We were exhausted parents who needed a solutions. Our daughter Alleria started sleep school at 16 months. We were excited when our box came. We saw a light at the end of the tunnel. The first couple days were hard and I almost gave up but Miss Megan was beyond amazing in coaching me through every situation. Sleep school for our family took longer than two weeks because every kid is different and mine happens to be stubborn. Miss Megan assigned Polly to be our point of contact until we graduated and all I can say is that she is the most amazing soul I have ever met! Polly made sure that my daughter was ok but she also checked in on me as the mom because mom guilt is a real thing. Fast forward to the end of sleep school and my daughter is sleeping through the night and I am getting the most sleep I have ever gotten. If you do choose sleep school with Batelle make sure that you come in with an open mind, no preconceived perceptions, and remember that not every child is the same. All children react to situations differently. Does Alleria choose sleep in five minutes? No, she does not but we went from a 3 hour bed time to less than 20 minutes and she sleeps through the night. I call that a win.

To think of where we were a few months ago compared to now says it all. We had tried everything with our 2-year-old and had resigned ourselves to believing he would be the worst sleeper forever. He went from being rocked to sleep, waking up multiple times a night and consistently waking at 5AM or earlier every morning to putting himself to sleep with no assistance or crying, sleeping through the night and waking up at a time of our choosing every morning. The methods used are nothing like any other program I’ve encountered. They’re relatively gentle, which was important to us. The support was key and all of the consultants are excellent. You can’t lose with the money-back guarantee. My husband and I agree it’s been WELL worth it.

We went from 3-6 wakes a night having to feed each time, to sleeping through the night for 12 hours with Batelle. I was skeptical, but desperate for a good nights sleep. Batelle delivered beyond belief. Every night our son chooses to sleep on his own, my husband and I are doing a victory dance in the kitchen and crying tears of joy. I searched for a gentle, but effective method to help my son (and myself) sleep. Cry-it-out methods and others like it felt too harsh for me, and seemed more stressful than it was worth. Miss Megan’s method is gentle and respectful of both baby and parents. I should have signed up for Batelle at the first sign of burn out. It would have saved me months of tears, declining mental health and sleepless nights. My creativity is back, the world is brighter, and we feel like ourselves again. It’s been incredible to have both parents able to do bedtime. It’s given us the freedom we’ve been longing for. Our son is happier in the daytime, and we are, too! Parents, you work so hard, and deserve a good nights sleep. This is by far the best investment you could make for your family. Good night!