Sleep Training are methods by which infants are encouraged to soothe themselves back to sleep when they wake during the night. Ideally, sleep training is attempted at around six months old.
Do not attempt sleep training prior to your infant reaching 4 months old. Infants younger than 4 months old cannot regulate their sleep. Visit The Fourth Trimester – Wisdom The Sweetness for information on ‘Sleeping with Your Baby’ prior to 4 months old.
There is no such thing as ‘spoiling’ a child by holding them too much prior to one year of age. In fact, subjecting a child to unattended crying for hours at a time can lead to disordered neurodevelopment and a sense of mistrust, insecurity and fear.
That being said, children must eventually learn to self-soothe. To self-soothe simply means to calm oneself. Specifically, for infants, it means to calm oneself back to sleep.
There are multiple methods for sleep training: The Bedtime Fading Method, The Ferber Method, and The Pick Up, Put Down Method are examples.
Generally, sleep training involves establishing a bedtime routine, putting baby to bed awake so he/she gets used to falling asleep on his/her own (not in your arms or while being fed), and gradually reducing the amount of time spent comforting baby after wakings.
Sleep training takes a few days to two weeks. If you’re having trouble getting your baby to sleep through the night, try a sleep consultant.
A sleep consultant may be found here: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-clinics/sleep-consultants…
References
- Sleep Training: Definition & Techniques | Sleep Foundation
- The Attachment Styles and How They’re Formed (clevelandclinic.org)
- Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
- Sleep training – BabyCenter Australia
- Sleep Training Your Baby – Methods, Tips and When to Try It (whattoexpect.com)
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