What’s the problem with sleep consultants?

Parents of babies are tired. Many parents know the feeling, the kind of tired that builds night after night when sleep feels broken, unpredictable, or impossible to figure out.

When you are waking often, feeding around the clock, rocking a baby who will not settle, or wondering whether you are doing something wrong, it makes complete sense to look for help. Sleep affects the whole family, and parents deserve support that is compassionate, realistic, and safe.

Many sleep consultants are trying to support families in thoughtful ways. But recent reporting from the BBC has raised concerns about what can happen when baby sleep advice crosses into unsafe territory.

When exhausted parents are given advice that contradicts safe sleep guidance or moves into medical territory without proper evaluation, that is where real concerns begin. Baby sleep can be complicated, and families deserve more than quick fixes, fear, or false certainty.

What The BBC Investigation Found

A recent BBC investigation looked into the booming but unregulated baby sleep industry, where almost anyone can call themselves a sleep expert. The advice uncovered was honestly devastating because it was not just unhelpful, but some of it was unsafe.

In one undercover consultation, a sleep consultant reportedly suggested that a baby may be in constant pain from reflux, recommended medication, and advised front sleeping without clearly directing the parent to speak with a healthcare clinician. In that same conversation, she also mentioned possible underlying issues like cow’s milk protein allergy or tongue tie and referred to them as “red flags.” That kind of language can be really scary for parents, especially when it is being used without seeing the baby, taking a full medical history, or recommending that the family speak with their pediatrician. These are medical concerns that deserve proper evaluation, not quick conclusions made during a sleep consultation.

The unsafe sleep advice was especially concerning. One consultant reportedly described front sleeping as something every baby she works with does and called it a “game changer.” Another recommendation involved using a muslin blanket and a rolled towel under a baby’s arms to help the baby feel “squished,” almost like being held.

And this is where my heart really goes to the parents watching or reading this. When normal infant sleep is framed as a medical problem or “solved” with unsafe sleep positioning, parents are left more scared, more confused, and potentially more vulnerable to advice that puts safety at risk.

The Problem With Unregulated Baby Sleep Advice

The baby sleep industry has grown quickly, and honestly, it makes sense why. Parents are tired and overwhelmed. They are trying to function while also wondering if their baby’s sleep is normal, if they are doing something wrong, or if there is some solution they just have not found yet.

When I work with families, my recommendations are grounded in evidence, and when I offer personalized guidance that differs from standard protocols, I'm transparent about that because that's what my credentials require of me. To hold an IBCLC, I completed hundreds of supervised clinical hours, passed an internationally recognized board exam, and am required to recertify every five years. Board-certified pediatricians go through an equivalent level of rigorous, standardized training with a license that can be reviewed, disciplined, or revoked if they cause harm. Baby sleep consulting doesn't work the same way. It's a largely unregulated space with no nationally recognized licensing board and no governing body that defines what advice is safe, what falls outside an appropriate scope, or what should never be given. Someone can complete a sleep certification program over a weekend and call themselves a certified sleep consultant, and to a parent reading a website, that word "certified" can look identical to the credentials held by an IBCLC or a pediatrician. It isn't. That's not a reason to dismiss sleep consultants entirely, but it is a reason to ask questions: What training do they have? What does their advice rest on? And are they willing to tell you when something is outside their lane?

But this also points to a real gap in how we support families. Pediatric visits are important, but there is only so much that can be covered in one appointment. Sleep questions can take time. Parents may need help thinking through routines, expectations, feeding patterns, temperament, schedules, parental mental health, and what feels realistic in their own home. It makes sense that families are looking for more support in this space.

I want to acknowledge that this doesn’t mean that all sleep consultants are unsafe or unhelpful. Many are thoughtful, compassionate, and clear about their role. Some can help families think through routines, sleep environments, realistic expectations, and options that fit their values. The problem is that parents deserve to know what a title actually means, and they deserve to know when advice has moved beyond sleep support into medical guidance or unsafe recommendations.

In pediatrics, we follow established safe sleep guidance, including AAP recommendations. Even then, there is nuance in how we support families because every baby, parent, and home situation is different. But nuance should never mean ignoring the safety basics.

Safe Sleep Guidance Should Not Be Blurred

There is plenty of nuance in baby sleep. We can talk about temperament, feeding, routines, parental mental health, family values, and what feels realistic in your home.

But safer sleep basics are not the place to get creative.

For babies under 1, the safest sleep position is on their back for every sleep, including naps. This includes babies with reflux. Stomach sleeping can increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, which is why back sleeping remains such an important safety recommendation.

A baby should sleep on a firm, flat, level surface with only a fitted sheet. Loose blankets, pillows, toys, rolled towels, muslins, sleep positioners, or anything added to make a baby feel more tucked in does not belong in the sleep space. On bed-sharing specifically, that conversation is best had with your pediatrician, as the guidance depends on your individual circumstances and if it's something you're navigating, stay subscribed to The PedsDocTalk Podcast, because there's a full episode on the Safe Sleep Seven and risk-reduction bed-sharing coming soon. While it isn't a formal evidence-based protocol, it does meaningfully reduce risk for families who are going to bed-share.

So when sleep advice includes front sleeping, rolled towels, muslins, or soft items placed near a baby's body, that should stop the conversation. This is not a different parenting philosophy or a gentle sleep trick. It is advice that can increase risk, and parents deserve to know that clearly.

Baby Sleep Is Not Always A Problem To Fix

One of the hardest parts of baby sleep is how much variability there is. A baby may wake often, need more support to settle, feed overnight for longer than expected, or have stretches where sleep changes just when parents thought they had found a rhythm.

Parents need information about biologically normal baby sleep because not every wakeup is a sign of a problem. A 9-week-old waking regularly can be exhausting, and it can also be developmentally expected. Babies are growing, feeding, developing, seeking comfort, and adjusting to the world outside the womb.

That said, families should not be left to struggle. Broken sleep can affect mood, anxiety, relationships, work, and the ability to function day to day. Support can be incredibly helpful, but parents also deserve honesty that baby sleep cannot always be fully solved with one method, one schedule, or one consultant.

The most helpful sleep conversations leave room for both truths: parents may need more rest and support, and their baby’s sleep may still fall within a developmentally normal range. When we can hold both, parents are less likely to feel like their baby is broken or that they have failed because sleep still feels hard.

What Parents Deserve In The Baby Sleep Conversation

After 11 years in pediatrics, my stance on baby sleep has stayed grounded in the same idea: families deserve safe, evidence-informed support that also leaves room for real life. Personalized discussions weighing benefits and risks are the mainstay. And decisions that support the family’s choice and reduce safety risk. 

Sleep training and the various methods can be an option for families, but it is not a requirement. The right approach depends on the baby’s age, temperament, feeding, medical history, parental mental health, family values, and what feels sustainable in that home. One method may work beautifully for one family and feel completely wrong for another.

I also think we have to be honest about the limits of the research. There is helpful information available, but there are also holes because it is hard to study one specific sleep approach in isolation. Baby sleep is influenced by so many variables, including feeding, temperament, development, parent response, household stress, sleep environment, and support systems.

Over the last five years, I have also become more interested in risk-reducing conversations around bedsharing. The safest recommendation is still a separate, safe sleep space. At the same time, many families end up bedsharing, whether planned or unplanned, and we lose an opportunity to reduce risk when we only respond with shame or fear.

If this is something you want to think through more, I have a podcast episode on co-sleeping and safer sleep that goes deeper into the nuance. I’ll also be sharing an episode soon on risk-reducing bedsharing and what we lose when we only approach this topic with fear or shame. 

None of this is meant to dismiss sleep consultants: in fact, I think they can be incredibly valuable. As Chief Medical Officer of Poppins, I work alongside both a medical team and a sleep consultant, and the beauty of that model is how naturally we collaborate: flagging medical issues that need intervention, respecting different approaches to sleep, and meeting families with a fuller picture than any one of us could offer alone. 

It is my strong opinion that every sleep consultant should be working closely with a medical professional who can diagnose and address the issues that impact sleep and equally, that every medical professional should take the time to understand and respect the range of approaches families use to navigate it.

At the end of the day, parents deserve support that respects how hard baby sleep can be while keeping safety at the center. That support should begin with the right question, not "here's the method," but "what support or questions do you have about how your baby is sleeping?" Because the answer shapes everything that comes next. Sleep advice should offer real options, meet families where they are, and help them feel informed and supported, not scared into unsafe choices or promised a certainty that baby sleep simply does not allow.

Ask Dr. Mona

An opportunity for YOU to ask Dr. Mona your parenting questions!

Dr. Mona will answer these questions in a future Sunday Morning Q&A email. Chances are if you have a parenting concern or question, another parent can relate. So let's figure this out together!