One of the most common pieces of sleep advice parents hear is this:

“You shouldn’t sleep train before one year old.”

But is that actually true—and could waiting sometimes make things harder?

In this episode of Surviving Tiny Humans: 10-Minute Triage for Your Baby, Body, and Mind, Dr. Kailey Buller breaks down where this belief comes from, why it persists, and what the evidence actually says.

We talk about:

• Why sleep skills are regulation skills, not advanced cognitive tasks

• How babies begin learning sleep fundamentals from the very beginning

• What can happen when parents delay all sleep teaching out of fear or guilt

• Why gentle, age-appropriate sleep teaching is often easier earlier, not later

• What sleep teaching does (and does not) look like in young babies

• How sleep needs—and appropriate strategies—change from newborns to 4–5 months and beyond

This episode walks through practical, developmentally appropriate approaches by age and explains how consistency, environment, routines, and small pauses can support healthier sleep without harming attachment or connection.

Dr. Buller also shares her own experience navigating severe sleep deprivation—and why, for some families, structured sleep training can be safer and healthier than the alternative.

Key takeaway:

Sleep skills don’t suddenly become “safe” at one year old.

There are ways to support healthy sleep—gently and responsively—much earlier than that.

And sleep training is optional, but sleep deprivation doesn’t have to be the cost of avoiding guilt.

Download the free “7 Lies You’ve Been Sold About Sleep Training” guide linked here:

https://www.vitalswithdrbuller.com/sleep7

And follow the show so you don’t miss upcoming episodes breaking down sleep methods, night feeding, and how to protect connection while teaching sleep.