Lauren Engler
118 episodes listed below
Sleep plans with room for real life.
All It Takes is a Plan turns common parenting sleep worries into workable next steps. Episodes cover hotel-room sleep, separation anxiety, breastfeeding and sleep training, crying, schedule flexibility, and occasional family-life topics like homeschooling.
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All It Takes is a Plan treats child sleep as both a practical problem and an emotional one. The show returns often to the moment when a parent thinks something has suddenly gone wrong: bedtime screaming, a rough hotel night, separation anxiety, crying during sleep training, or a baby still needing night feeds. Lauren Engler gives those moments a shape. She explains what may be developmental, what may be a schedule issue, and what may simply require consistency for a little longer. The tone is warm, but the advice is specific. Hotel sleep becomes a conversation about room separation, blackout space, pack and plays, older kids sharing beds, and what happens when everyone is crammed into one room. Separation anxiety becomes extra stories, silliness, one-on-one time, and clear thinking about whether sleep is still working overall. Breastfeeding and sleep training are handled without treating nursing and sleep as enemies. The show repeatedly makes room for nuance: a four-month-old and a ten-month-old are not the same, a rigid schedule suits some families, and a skipped nap does not mean everything is ruined. That is its core rhythm. Name the fear. Sort the variables. Try the next practical step. Leave space for imperfect nights. The sleep training episodes are also willing to say uncomfortable things plainly, especially around crying and the limits of so-called no-cry methods. At the same time, the show avoids a hard-edged coaching style. It cares about family temperament, siblings, travel, daycare pickup, bedtime routines, and the ordinary logistics that make clean advice messy. The 100th episode brings in Dr. Shana Sarita-Alvarez to discuss secure attachment and sleep training concerns from a research-informed angle. Other episodes stay closer to home, including a candid look at homeschooling and the flexibility it has created for Lauren Engler's family. That family context matters because the show often teaches through lived examples before widening into guidance. It is not a glossy parenting brand voice. It is more like a careful parent-coach translating sleep theory into the small decisions of a normal week. Parents who want both direction and permission to be human will find its lane quickly.
Made for: Parents of babies, toddlers, and young kids who want calm, concrete help with sleep, bedtime routines, travel, nursing, and separation anxiety. It especially suits families who want guidance without being pushed toward one perfect parenting style.
What sets it apart: The show pairs sleep-consultant structure with unusually specific family logistics, from hotel-room layouts to late bedtimes and sibling schedules. Its strength is turning broad sleep debates into small, doable decisions.
If you're looking for real talk about all things sleep and parenting, you're in the right place! Lauren Engler, pediatric sleep consultant and mom of three, shares her sleep tips and tricks for babies, toddlers, and young kids, so your family can get the best sleep possible. She also interviews other guest experts to help you feel confident in your parenting journey.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Lauren Engler makes child sleep advice more usable by testing plans against feeding, travel, family schedules, and her own difficult nights.
All it Takes is a Plan turns child sleep into a practical family problem, with Lauren Engler combining her perspective as a pediatric sleep consultant and mother.
A king-size bed becomes relatable when your newborn treats the sleep plan as light reading.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical, flexible guide to making one hotel room work when children sleep beside their parents.
A hotel room becomes the whole sleep system when parents are trying to fit luggage, a baby, and older children into the same space. Lauren Engler, a mom and pediatric sleep consultant at Via Graces, keeps the focus on a useful middle ground: plan carefully for sleep, then allow…
A candid account of how treatment schedules, travel, and family rhythms reshaped one household's approach to school.
Homeschooling lands as a story about a plan that had to change shape. The host remembers once pushing hard against the idea, then explains how Olivia's three-year treatment schedule made flexibility feel less like a philosophy and more like a practical need.
Sleep training can still leave room for real life, depending on what a family needs.
The episode centers on a practical parent concern: whether sleep training ends up making family life feel boxed in. Its clearest strength is naming that tension without softening it, then grounding the discussion in travel, fireworks, trick-or-treating, daycare, and off days…
Alyssa Miller talks through bedtime snacks and picky eating with a clear eye on both kids and parents.
Alyssa Miller, a mom of three and a registered dietitian with Nutrition for Littles, talks through bedtime snacks and picky eating in a way that stays grounded in family life.
A grounded sleep-training conversation that leaves room for the hard parts and the limits of any one plan.
Angie Ludwig's conversation keeps its feet on the ground. It follows the before and after of sleep training for both children, but does not flatten the hard middle: a baby who screamed much of the time and a toddler in the mix.
A candid look at the hard middle of a long sleep struggle.
Lauren keeps the focus on the hard middle of a long sleep fight, where ordinary family life starts bending around a newborn who has not settled.
Parenthood and bodies, told one honest story at a time.
Lauren Engler, a pediatric sleep consultant at Via Graces, focuses this episode of All it Takes is a Plan on sleeping in a hotel room with kids.
The host of All It Takes is a Plan explains how Olivia’s cancer diagnosis at almost five changed the family’s plan from public school to homeschooling.
This episode clarifies that breastfeeding and sleep training are compatible, addressing common concerns about night feeds, milk supply, and weaning.
The episode asks whether sleep training makes family life rigid.
This episode addresses common parental concerns about crying during sleep training, explaining that some crying is inevitable and clarifying misconceptions about gentle methods.
This episode interviews psychologist Dr.
This episode provides sleep training advice and support specifically for parents of twins and triplets, addressing the unique challenges of managing multiple children's sleep.
The show opens with a bedtime question that feels bigger than the plate.
Angie Ludwig joins the show to talk about the before-and-after of sleep training for her two children.
Lauren opens with a candid update on nearly a year of sleep upheaval with baby James.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
This episode provides eight strategies for parents to help children overcome bedtime fears and anxieties, shared by a pediatric sleep consultant and mom.
Lauren Engler shares her personal breastfeeding journey with her fourth baby, James, discussing the highs and lows of the first 12 weeks while emphasizing it's not professional advice but a relatable story for fellow parents.
This episode provides guidance on when and how to wean babies or toddlers from the bottle, connecting it to sleep and overall child development.