'Little People, Big World's Audrey Roloff Divides Fans With Controversial Parenting Take

Yahoo

07-02-2025

weighed in on a super controversial parenting topic in a recent social media post—and fans had mixed reactions.
The former Little People, Big World star took to Instagram on Thursday, Feb. 6, to share a video of herself with her youngest child, baby Mirabella, sleeping on her lap.
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"Why are we so obsessed with 'sleep training' in America?" Roloff asked in her caption.
"Maybe it's just what the algorithm is feeding me right now…but it's crazy to me the obsession we have around babies sleeping," the mother of four continued.
"It's usually the first question someone asks you when you're in the newborn phase 'so are they sleeping through the night yet?' Why is this such a thing to be achieved? They are babies. Their needs don't stop at bedtime. They will learn to sleep eventually but right now they need us."
Roloff went on to say that while it "may sound crazy," she thinks that "the more you can accept that caring for your baby through night is something that you 'get to do' not 'have to do' it becomes less of a burden and more of a joy."
"God grows your capacity and somehow multiplies the minimal hours of sleep you do get into energy sufficient for the day," she wrote. "If your [sic] a mama in the sleepless nights season, your mindset is everything. For me, accepting the season has helped me to walk in it with 'peace (and energy) that surpasses understanding.'"
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Roloff's followers were divided on her take, with proponents of sleep training defending their point of view.
"Can we just stop shaming parents for doing something that helps the whole family? We sleep trained both of our older kids and we were ALL better for it. We plan to sleep train our new baby too but if that's not for you, that's ok! We just like our sleep and rest around this house and that's ok too. ❤️" one person argued.
"Everyone should do what is best for their baby and their family," a second commenter agreed, adding, "It's not fair to make generalizations since every family and baby is unique. Personally, in a home with two working parents, we had to sleep train. I work in healthcare and getting a halfway decent amount of sleep is necessary to make sure my patients get the care they need. That worked for us and for our daughter. I have good friends who didn't sleep train and that's what worked for them. To each their own!"
Some people were on the same page as Roloff, however.
"Just here to say that seems like a lot of working moms are saying they have to sleep train. Working mom here who doesn't sleep train! No shame if you do but for me it wasn't what's right for us. So no, not all moms who work outside of the home sleep train. 💜" someone pointed out.
"I needed this! Baby is 10 days old and everything is so targeted towards do this right now! We struggled for 6 years to get pregnant. It's ok if she needs me at 3 am!!" another Instagram user chimed in.
In addition to Mirabella, who was born in May 2024, Roloff and her husband, Jeremy Roloff, share three other children: Ember Jean, 6, Bode James, 4, and Radley Knight, 2.
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