How we show up for each other.

Welcome.

The Off to Sleep Strong community is a private space where parents and caregivers can share, ask, and support one another through the sleep season of their family's life. We want it to feel calm, honest, and safe — the way a good conversation with a trusted friend feels.

These Guidelines explain how we expect members to behave and what we will and will not allow. They are part of our Terms of Service and apply anywhere the community is hosted, including community.offtosleepstrong.com and any related spaces we operate.

1. Lead with kindness.

Every parent in this community is tired. Assume good intent. Share your experience without judging someone else's choices. Before you post, ask yourself: would I say this to a friend who just sent me a voice memo at 3 a.m.?

2. Share your story; don't prescribe someone else's.

You're welcome to share what worked (or didn't) for your family. Please don't tell another member what they must do, or present your experience as a universal fix. Every baby, every household, every parent is different.

Specifically:

• Don't give medical advice. Don't diagnose another member's child, don't recommend medications or dosages, don't interpret symptoms, and don't suggest that another member stop or start any medical treatment. If someone describes a situation that sounds medical, gently encourage them to talk to their pediatrician.
• Don't practice a licensed profession. Don't hold yourself out as a pediatrician, psychologist, therapist, lactation consultant, or any other licensed professional unless you are one and you make that clear.
• Don't present an approach as the only right approach. There are many paths through infant sleep. Members are here because they're finding theirs.

3. Respect privacy — your family's and everyone else's.

• Don't share photos, names, or identifying details of anyone else's child.
• Be thoughtful about how much you share about your own child. What feels fine today may feel different when your kid is twelve.
• Don't screenshot, copy, or share members' posts outside the community without their explicit permission. What's shared here stays here.

4. No selling, no promotion, no recruiting.

This is a community, not a marketplace. Please don't:

• Sell products or services.
• Promote your business, newsletter, course, Instagram, TikTok, or other external platform.
• Recruit members for another group, MLM, or service provider.
• Share affiliate links or referral codes.

If you think something is genuinely useful — a book, a product, a podcast — you're welcome to mention it, once, in response to a relevant question. Don't post the same recommendation in multiple threads, and don't benefit financially from the mention without disclosing that connection.

5. Keep it civil.

• No harassment. No targeting, pile-ons, or personal attacks.
• No slurs, hate speech, or discriminatory content based on race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or family structure.
• No bullying of members or of other parents (including public figures) based on their parenting choices.
• No doxxing. Don't share anyone's personal contact information, home address, employer, or real name if they haven't shared it themselves.

6. Keep it legal.

Don't post content that:

• Infringes someone else's copyright, trademark, or other intellectual-property rights (including unlicensed re-posting of articles, books, or courses).
• Violates a non-disclosure agreement you signed elsewhere.
• Contains malware, phishing links, or obvious scams.
• Would itself constitute a crime (harassment, threats, child exploitation, illegal sale of regulated goods).

7. Keep it safe for children.

Off to Sleep Strong is a community of parents talking about their children. That privilege comes with extra responsibility.

• Never post content that sexualizes, exploits, or endangers a child. Doing so will result in immediate and permanent removal and, where required by law, a report to authorities.
• Never post content that encourages physical harm to an infant or child, including so-called “cry it out to unconsciousness” claims, shaking, or physical discipline.
• If you see such content — from another member or from anywhere — report it immediately via the in-platform report tool or email community@offtosleepstrong.com.

8. No impersonation.

Don't impersonate Lindsay, Aly, any OTSS team member, another community member, a pediatrician, or any other person or organization. This includes creating accounts designed to look like someone else's.

9. Follow Circle's rules, too.

Our community lives on Circle. Circle has its own acceptable-use policy, and it applies to your activity there in addition to these Guidelines. Where Circle's rules are stricter than ours, Circle's rules control.

How we moderate.

Who moderates

Lindsay and Aly moderate the community directly, with support from OTSS staff. We are not a 24/7 team. We aim to respond to reported content within 48 hours during weekdays (often faster; occasionally slower on weekends and holidays).

How we decide

We review reported content — and content we come across directly — against these Guidelines and the Terms of Service. Our moderation decisions are judgment calls made in good faith. We try to be consistent, but we don't promise perfect consistency across every situation.

What we may do

Depending on the severity of a violation, we may:

(a) Leave the content up and privately remind the member of the relevant Guideline;

(b) Edit the post to remove specific problematic elements (for example, an affiliate link or a full name);

(c) Remove the post entirely;

(d) Issue a warning to the member;

(e) Temporarily suspend the member's access to the community;

(f) Permanently remove the member from the community and terminate the associated OTSS membership, with or without refund as described in the Terms of Service §12;

(g) Preserve evidence and, where required by law, report to authorities (particularly in the case of content that endangers a child).

We may take these actions with or without prior notice, depending on the severity of the violation and the risk of harm.

What you can do

If you disagree with a moderation decision about content you posted, email community@offtosleepstrong.com with a brief description of your concern. We will review and respond within ten (10) business days. Our decision following appeal is final.

If your OTSS membership is terminated for a Community Guidelines violation, refund treatment is governed by the Terms of Service §12.

Reporting violations.

If you see content that violates these Guidelines:

1. Use the “Report” button on the post or message (preferred — this routes the report directly to the moderators with context).
2. Or email community@offtosleepstrong.com with a link to the content and a brief description.

Reports are kept confidential to the extent reasonably possible. We will not disclose the identity of a reporter to the reported member without the reporter's permission, except where required by law or necessary to resolve the report.

Content ownership and use.

When you post in the community:

• You retain ownership of your content. You're not giving up your copyright.
• You grant OTSS a license to host, display, and distribute your content as needed to operate the community (see Terms of Service §6 for the full license).
• You grant other members a license to view your content within the community as it's intended to be used, and to quote or excerpt your posts in replies and discussion within the community.
• Other members may not copy your content outside the community without your permission (see Section 3 above).

If you'd like to delete your posts, you can delete them directly in Circle, or email community@offtosleepstrong.com and we'll help. Threaded replies from other members may remain visible with your content removed or anonymized.

The short version.

Be kind. Don't prescribe. Don't sell. Respect each other's kids. Don't play doctor. Report anything that feels wrong. When in doubt, ask.

Thanks for being here. This community is only as good as the parents in it, and we're grateful for yours.

— Lindsay + Aly