How To Sleep Train A Baby
There are various schools of thought on sleep training. Some sleep-training methods fall under the umbrella of gentle sleep training, which generally means youre still going to pick up, rock and soothe baby if she cries. Other methods, often under the extinction label, advise parents to let baby self-soothe for the entire night and not open the door until morning. Neither of these methods are right or wrongit all depends on what works best for you and your family.
Some moms have found working with a sleep coach or joining a Facebook sleep group to be helpful for support, tips and advice. We ended up hiring a sleep coach, which was helpful because she could talk us through any questions or issues and show that we were on the right track, Robin says.
Dealing With Baby Sleep Pattern Changes
All babies change their sleep patterns. Just when you think you have it sorted and you’ve all had a good night’s sleep, the next night you might be up every 2 hours.
Be prepared to change routines as your baby grows and enters different stages. And remember, growth spurts, teething and illnesses can all affect how your baby sleeps.
If your baby is having problems sleeping or you need more advice about getting into a routine, speak to your health visitor.
When To Start Sleep Training Your Newborn And Recommended Methods
- You can begin sleep training your baby about four to six months after birth.
- There are a number of different sleep training methods listed below including graduated extinction and the cry-it-out method.
- Sufficient sleep is important for cognitive development, mood regulation, and behavior but not every baby needs to be sleep trained.
Your baby may sleep soundly through the night and have no problems in preschool, daycare, or the like. If that’s the case, then you probably don’t need to worry about sleep training your baby.
If, however, your baby isn’t sleeping through the night, sleep training is a way to help them and you get a good night’s sleep. Here’s what you need to know about sleep training your baby.
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Where Should My Baby Sleep
For the first 6 months your baby should be in the same room as you when they’re asleep, both day and night. This can reduce the risk of SIDS .
Particularly in the early weeks, you may find your baby only falls asleep in your or your partner’s arms, or when you’re standing by the cot.
You can start getting your baby used to going to sleep without you comforting them by putting them down before they fall asleep or when they’ve just finished a feed. It may be easier to do this once your baby starts to stay alert more frequently or for longer.
If you use a baby sling to carry your baby, make sure you use it safely. The Lullaby Trust has information about swaddling your baby and using slings safely.
Key Ingredients For The Sleep Zone
Becoming a pro at the Feed Play Sleep routine, and transitioning baby to sleepy time when theyre primed for zzzs is great, but if their sleep environment is not ideal all your routine efforts might be pointless.
To help ensure your baby stays asleep for as long as their tiny body needs, mix the following goodies into your babys sleep zone:
- Darkness. Bust out the black-out curtains in your babys room, as darkness tells the brain to release melatonin, a hormone thats critical for sleep. To help baby associate darkness with sleepiness, and brightness with playfulness, keep them in well-lit rooms when youre in the feed and play portions of your daily routine.
- Cool Temperature. Stickiness and sweatiness: two things that are super distracting when youre trying to sleep. Set your baby up for satisfying sleep by helping them stay cool.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends a baby be dressed in light clothing for sleep and to keep the room at a temperature that is comfortable for an adult, which is generally a cooler temperature. In addition, a study published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine reported that using a fan during sleep reduced the risk of SIDS by 72%.
Not only will these ingredients help baby go to sleep but will also offer cues that its still time for sleep if they wake up in the middle of the night.
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How To Cope With Your Newborns Erratic Sleep Habits
Even though we understand how physically draining your babys unpredictable snoozes are to you, it is perfectly normal for them. This aids their development and wont last forever. Thats why experts advise that you wait until they are developmentally ready to handle sleep training.
Meanwhile, take sneak naps when you can. As soon as the baby is down for the count, get some shuteye.
Set the mood. Play some quiet music in the background, dim the lights and keep loud noises away. When your baby is too fussy to settle down and sleep, setting a sleep-inducing mood might do the trick.
Pick Up Put Down Method
This sleep training technique involves you going through your baby’s normal bedtime routine, then putting her down to bed drowsy but awake. When and if she cries, wait a few minutes to see if she settles down herself. If not, go in to pick her up and soothe her. When she’s calm again, put her back down in the crib or bassinet.
Repeat the process until your baby falls asleep. Just be aware that this sleep training method can take a long time, and requires a good deal of patience.
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How To Cope Until You Can Sleep Train Your Baby
Your newborns short, unpredictable snoozes and round-the-clock feedings can understandably leave you drained. But its a completely normal part of her development and one that wont last for very long.
That’s why sleep training and schedules should wait until your baby is older and more developmentally ready.
In the meantime, keep the coffee brewing, sneak in naps whenever you can and dont be afraid to ask for help so you can get a little more rest. A few months from now, youll be past this stage of extreme sleep deprivation even if you cant quite remember how you made it through!
From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.
How Do I Sleep Train
Once you are confident that it’s time to start the sleep training process, you’ll likely want to do some research to determine the right approach for your child.
There are many different methods to tryfrom gentle sleep training to cry-it-outand plenty in between. I encourage you to focus on what you think is most realistic for your family and not to compare your baby to anyone else’s child or experience.
All babies are different, and each child will require a slightly different approach, so it’s important that you consider your little one’s unique traits and base your sleep training approach on that.
Determining your child’s sleep profile is one way you can figure out the best approach to take with your child during the sleep training process.
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Get Quality Baby Gear
Be sure to use good quality baby items so your baby can be comfortable when they sleep. Get the best baby crib that you can find thats sturdy, safe, and with good material.
You can use organic crib mattresses so you know your little one sleeps on safely, without the dangers of toxic materials. Get the best crib sheets available.
Also, you might want to install a smart baby monitor, as this can help you track your little childs sleep patterns, even if you need to step away and go to another area in your house.
Can You Touch New Born Rabbits
Newborn rabbits are fragile, and cant cope with too much human contact. If you can check on the kits without picking them up, you should do so. Once the babies are three weeks old, you can begin to interact with them a bit more. You can pet them, allow them to hop into your lap and pick them up occasionally.
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If We’re Not Healthy And Functioning As Parents It’s Very Hard To Look After Our Children And Give Them The Love And Parenting That They Need Hiscock
Academics who oppose sleep training agree that these factors are important. Their issue, they say, is with the fact that many parents often are simply advised to sleep train, without being told about nuances such as that it doesn’t work for every baby or that it often needs to be repeated and that they aren’t presented with other options.
“I think it’s often sold to parents who feel like they’re in a tight spot, and they’ve got to sleep train their child in order to be able to survive. But actually, I think we need to help them come up with other strategies way before they get to that crisis point,” says Ball.
One strategy that both Ball and James McKenna, the founder and director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, have found works for some low-risk families is bedsharing, or cosleeping. Small studies have found that mothers report having better sleep when bedsharing than when sleeping separately from their infants, even though objective measures find only modest changes to their sleep, and while research has shown that while bedsharing infants wake more frequently, their total awake time doesn’t differ from solitary sleepers. .
Some experts suggest bedsharing, or cosleeping, to low-risk families
Why Is Sleep Important For Babies And Parents
Sleep plays a crucial role in your babyâs growth and development. Sleep can also help with your babyâs mood, behavior and even reduce their risk of obesity in later childhood. Once your baby starts sleeping better at night, so will you. Just imagine how much better a parent you could be if you are not constantly sleep deprived. You could be more loving and attentive to your baby, your partner and others in your life. You could drive more safely on the road and you could even perform better at work.
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When Should You Start Sleep Training
Dr. Schwartz recommends to begin sleeping training when your baby is about four months old. At this age, babies are typically old enough to learn to self soothe, and may no longer require night feedings. Additionally, at around four months, your babys sleep cycles begin to mature and their circadian rhythm starts to take effect.
Some babies can start sleep training earlier and some do better a little later, around the six month mark. If youre unsure if your baby is old enough or ready, check with your pediatrician to get the green light first.
Can I Sleep Train My Baby At Eight Weeks
Not really, says Sanjeev Bhatla, a member of the Canadian Paediatric Societys Early Years Task Force and a family physician based in Calgary. Eight weeks is simply too young, he says. I think if you asked the other members of the Early Years Task Force, they would universally say no, thats too early, he says.
Elizabeth Murray, a pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, agrees. Theyre not developmentally meant to do it at that ageand they still need the calories from eating at night, she says.
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How To Build Good Sleep Habits With A Newborn
For parents who are struggling in those early months with a newborn, there are ways to work on sleep that dont involve sleep training. The first is that once your doctor has confirmed that your baby is growing well, you should stop waking them to feed at night. After the first three weeks, you can add a bedtime routine to your nights, like a bath, milk, and a book.
At around eight weeks, trying to put baby down awake instead of having them fall asleep in your arms can help set up good sleep habits. Switching your bedtime earlier to match your babys can also help: since most babies have their longest stretch of sleep in the first part of the night and then wake frequently after that, going to bed when the baby does can help parents get a longer uninterrupted period of sleep every night. Knowing that sleep training is a safe option at six months also helps, says Bhatla. That makes sense to meas my friend with the circled date knew, having a finish line to look forward to can make all the difference.
At What Age Can You Start Sleep
Dr. Ankita Patel is a pediatrician at Novant Health Meadowlark Pediatrics in Winston-Salem. Heres her answer.
Sleep training can be started at around four months, as long as the baby is growing well. As babies get older, they need less sleep, although every baby is different. For a 6-month-old, it’s normal to wake up at night, but she should be able to go back to sleep after just a few minutes. When a baby is learning how to fall asleep in her own bed, these tips can help:
- Keep the baby calm and quiet at nighttime.
- If you rock her or let her fall asleep in your arms and then put her into bed, shes going to have a harder time putting herself to sleep.
- The best practice is to put her in bed while drowsy but still awake.
- When feeding or changing a baby at night, try not to stimulate her too much. Keep the lights low and avoid talking to the infant, which may make her think its time to interact.
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Early Sleep Problems Are More Predictive Of Future Sleep Disturbances Than Are Intervening Parental Behaviours Valrie Simard Et Al
Recent research also has found that children with more sensitive temperaments can react more strongly to their environments such as being more negatively affected by stress.
Indeed, some children remain calm and collected even when a caregiver walks away momentarily, sleep researchers say. Others become upset and frustrated. This is a sign, they say, that some children learn to self-regulate earlier than others.
“It means that you have to be really careful when you’re giving parents suggestions about how to manage sleep problems, that you’re taking those differences in separation anxiety into account,” says Hall.
A baby’s personality plays a part in whether they put themselves to sleep independently, or need a caregiver’s help and reassurance
These differences in temperament may help explain why sleep training seems to work brilliantly for some families, who find their baby barely grizzles before drifting off, and don’t work at all for others, whose infants might sob for hours and days on end. The questionnaire of Canadian parents, for example, found that 25% reported using controlled crying for bouts of more than two weeks at a time 13% even tried for more than a month.
It’s also worth noting that in their top-line results, studies normally report on the average outcome, which doesn’t show the variation of every family’s experience, especially those at the extremes such as those who found sleep training a smashing success, or a total failure.
Seek Additional Support If You Need It
Sleep training may seem like a daunting process, but it doesn’t have to be! As long as you wait until the right time, focus on implementing healthy habits first, follow the approach that’s right for your baby and stay committed and consistent, you’ll see progressand all of you will start getting the rest you truly need.
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Sleep Training Will Severe The Bond Between You And Your Baby
Babies cry for several reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all. Remember, they love attention.
As long as you provide everything necessary for your babys comfort, crying will not damage your bond even if they cry for a while.
But the relationship between you and your child is in danger from exhaustion by sleep deprivation which may increase postpartum depression.
With the help of a sleep consultant, you and your baby can finally get some rest.
Tips To Help Your Newborn Develop Good Sleep Habits
Newborns sleep a lot. As they get used to the world outside the quiet space of moms belly, they may snooze an average of 14-17 hours.
Most of it during day time. But, as they grow older, their sleep patterns change, and they cannot settle in for long hours, especially when they become used to bad sleeping habits.
So here are some simple tips to help your newborn develop good sleep habits from the moment you bring them home.
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Tips You Should Know About It
Here are the some useful sleep training tips for healthy sleep a parents should know and they are:
- It is important to have a clear understanding of the sleep training process and the associated techniques. So that you can implement them smoothly.
- It would be great if you establish good sleeping habits right from early infancy. Because it sets the stage for healthy sleep that lasts throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
- Keep in mind that establishing good sleeping habits does not mean letting your child cry until they falls asleep. It is better to comfort and reassure them when they cries initially. But there must be a limit to this soothing process.