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Some babies lull themselves to sleep through the night quickly without a fuss, only waking up to feed once or twice. For the majority of the babies, though, sleep time is wartime. They just don’t know how to drift off independently and will fight the sleep with all they have. These sleep training tips come in handy.
Motherhood is synonymous with sleep deprivation. Every new mother looks forward to the day their baby will start sleeping without raising a tornado.
When Should We Start Sleep Training?
Most newborn babies seem to sleep a lot for the first couple of weeks. Before 3 months, the baby can’t fully differentiate between day and night.
If you plan to do it, start early. Sleep training a 10 month-old-baby will be much harder than sleep training a two-month-old baby. Older babies who were not sleep trained may have already gotten used to being held and rocked to sleep; the baby will not give this luxury away without a fight.
Babies will, in most cases, guide you to know when they’re ready for the next stage in their developmental milestones. This is true even with sleep training. Commonly, most babies are beginning to notice the sleep cycle by around three months. At this time, they are more sociable and have less separation anxiety.
This is the best time to train their little eyes to close on their own and take a rest.
Which Sleep Training Method Is The Best?
There isn’t a one-fits-all infant sleep training method that works for every baby. As a mom, adopting the technique that works for both you and your baby will reduce your tears and frustration. Sleep training takes guts and resilience. There will most likely be lots of crying screaming that will have you wondering if it’s worth it.
Keep your eyes on the price – the day they will sleep quickly and for longer. These sleep training tips will help you choose what’s best for your baby and guide you on how to do it right.
1. Cry It Out Sleep Training
The cry-it-out sleep training method is arguably the hardest and harshest. It involves letting the baby cry until they pacify themselves back to sleep. This can be very trying for any mom.
In this method, you put the baby in his crib and walk out of the room. You do not go back; however much he cries. The focus is to let him get used to falling asleep on his own, even when he wakes up in the middle of the night.
It’s also called the full extinction method – you declare yourself extinct from his room until he falls asleep.
Though it’s the most common sleep training method, a section of baby experts doesn’t agree with it. Many argue that this method negatively affects the baby’s psychological well-being and messes with their sense of safety.
2. Ferber Baby Sleep Training Method
The Ferber baby sleep training method is a compromise of the cry-it-out method. It’s advanced by Dr. Richard Ferber, an author and pediatrician.
In this method, you put the baby to bed while still awake and let them cry out, but only for a little while. At first, you can time yourself a couple of minutes, if he doesn’t get back to sleep, attend to him, and then leave him again. You can do this in intervals of 5, 10, or 15 minutes.
Do not pick him up when you go to his room, the point is to assure him that you’re still there, and he’s still safe. This method is also called the check and console method.
The secret is to keep extending the time you let him cry before checking on him until he finally learns to comfortably get back to sleep on his own.
3. Pick-Up, Put-Down Sleep Training
The other sleep training tips involved leaving the room entirely or leaving and then coming back when need be. In the pick-up, put-down method, you put the baby to his crib, and you stay in the room. You could pat the baby, sing him a lullaby, or simply rock his crib until he drifts away.
If he fusses too much, you pick him up, comfort him, and return him to his crib. This goes on until he falls asleep. Eventually, he learns to fall asleep without being picked up and comforted.
4. Fading Sleep Training
There are two fading sleep training methods – the bedtime routine fading and the bedtime hour fading.
The bedtime routine fading technique is whereby you progressively spend less time with the baby when you put him to bed. Eventually, you will be able to leave him immediately without him getting agitated.
In the bedtime hour fading method, you gradually move your baby’s bedtime hour up. This trains your baby to comfortably fall asleep at an earlier hour without a fuss.
5. The No-Cry Sleep Training Method
Your baby’s tears can melt you to a puddle. If you feel like all the sleep training tips are a bawling contest, try the no-cry sleep training method. With this one, the goal is to make the baby so cozy that they will drift off to sleep in minimal time.
This is an excellent method if letting your child cry themselves sore is counter-productive. Sometimes, when the baby is too agitated, they find it much harder to fall asleep.
11 Sleep Training Tips That Work
- Set a bedtime routine and stick to it.
Set out activities that you do just before bedtime to signal to the baby that it is time to sleep. You can spend a few minutes to about an hour, depending on your schedule. Avoid letting the baby engage in activities that involve dancing or play because sleep will sound like an annoying thing. Keep a strict schedule for your baby. Babies survive under strict routines. Once they learn the bedtime routine, there will be no nighttime fights. Just be consistent and enforce the schedule.
3. Swaddle the baby
Babies learn to sleep much better when they are swaddled than when you use a loose blanket.
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4. Keep the room dark
Babies fall asleep faster and sleep through the night if you keep their room totally dark. Get light-blocking curtains and get the room to be dark. Put off the phones or anything that can emit light.
5. Sing a lullaby
A lullaby has been working for ages. Once they get the routine, they’ll know that once the song ends, it’s time to sleep.
6. Use a white noise machine
Quiet background noise will make a difference to help babies learn to sleep on their own. The sound of the ocean waves or running water is magical. It helps babies to learn to sleep. It is soothing and helps to block out noise from the other rooms. You can also play classical music or soothing music as they fall asleep at low volume. Let the bedroom noise to be consistent and keep the outside noise off.
7. Use a co-sleeper attachment
Babies are different. While some will be okay to sleep on their crib, other babies refuse. Or maybe you prefer that the baby sleeps next to you? You can use a co-sleeper.
8 Put them asleep in their crib awake
To sleep train your child, don’t let them sleep while nursing or bottle-feeding. They will always rely on them to fall asleep. Lay them awake on the crib and let it be a strict schedule so that they can follow it. It will take some time for the baby to learn the routine, but with consistency, within no time, they will learn it.
9. Set reasonable bed and wake- up time
Babies need consistency, especially when it comes to sleeping. Set the timeline depending on their age. But babies need about 8-12 hours of sleep every day. Set the night time sleep to be about 3-4 hours after their last nap. Set a bedtime and waking up time every day and stick to it. Don’t keep the baby awake for too long because they will have a hard time falling asleep. Let the baby wake up on their own. Then proceed to change their diaper and get
10. Ask for help
The best thing to learn as a new mom is to know when to ask for help, and also to accept help. You can get assistance from your mom or friends to help the baby learn to sleep.
11. Use the sleep training techniques like Ferber or CIO
Crying it out works for some babies within 5 days. It helps to reduce the time it takes to fall asleep. The method might sound harsh, but it works. It will be hard for you. Think of how easy it will be for you when the baby can fall asleep on their own. Pretty good for an exhausted mom who can’t spend one more night awake.
Final Thoughts: Mama Knows Best
As a mom, you know your baby best. Go for the sleep training tips that work for both of you. The goal is to get the baby to freely fall asleep without much aid and to get themselves back to sleep if they wake up in the middle of the night.
Sleep training is one of the baby care debates that have been going on for years. Some have laughed it off as a myth while others swear by it. Whichever side of this debate you may be on, it’s unanimous that the baby finally sleeping without much fuss is a great achievement and relief for any mom.
Found this useful? You may also like:
- How To Transition Baby To Crib From Co-Sleeping
- Baby Sleep Tips: How To Get Your Baby To Sleep Fast
- 8 Genuine Ways To Help Your Baby Sleep Through The Night
- Newborn Sleep: Everything New Moms Should Know
