Sleep training your baby...what did you do? If anything?

Question

We are trying to do some mild sleep training with our baby boy. 

He is now sleeping in his own room at night in his crib and for the past week and a half we have been working on sleep training with him.

Many of the books I have read advise that we don't always let our son fall asleep while breast feeding/being rocked...otherwise he will never learn to fall asleep on his own. So we have been doing a bed time routine every night. At 7 I breast feed and burp him, then 730 he gets a bath, then a little baby lotion massage , and gets dressed in his diaper and some cozy pjs. Then  I rock him in the nursery and read him a short story. I will then let him breast feed for a few minutes just until hes drowsy - not asleep, burp him and them lay him in bed by 815. 

However he then starts crying after a few minutes in the crib. I just stay in the nursery sitting in the rocking chair (where my son can not see me). Then every 5 minutes or so I will go over to him - not speak , but just rub his belly and make a shhhhhh sound until he calms and stops crying. 

I have also tried putting on his mobile or his crib aquarium to distract him too and try to get him to fall asleep without crying. 

Then once he is asleep I leave the nursery and he generally sleeps until about 4 am - then wakes up to be breast fed and then will continue to sleep until he gets up in the morning. 

Everything I have read - as well as have been told by countless friends with babies - is that we should try to do sleep training now - rather then wait until hes older where it will become much harder to do. 

From what I have read it should take your baby about 10 days for you as the parent to start seeing improvement. However its been just about ten days and it does not seem any easier for him to self soothe. We had a couple of nights where he went down really easily and went basically right to sleep, but more often then not there is crying. 

Did you do any type of sleep training with your baby? Try to teach them to self soothe etc? Get them on a bed time schedule? If so what was your bed time routine like? Any tips for us? Something that worked for you! If you did try sleep training, how long was it before your baby went to bed at bed time and went to sleep pretty easily on their own most nights ?

? · Accepted Answer

Sleep trainers suggest not following their methods before 6 months old. Most children don't get into a routine until at least 6 months old. 

Babies need to be parented to sleep, not just put to sleep. Some babies can be put down while drowsy yet still awake and drift

others need parental help by being rocked or nursed to sleep.

The reason is that while adults can usually go directly into the state of deep sleep, infants in the early months enter sleep through an initial period of light sleep. After twenty minutes or more they gradually enter deep sleep, from which they are not so easily aroused. As you probably know from experience, if you try to rush your baby to bed while she is still in the initial light sleep period, she will usually awaken. Many parents tell me: "My baby has to be fully asleep before I can put her down." In later months, some babies can enter deep sleep more quickly, bypassing the lengthy light sleep stage. Learn to recognize your baby's sleep stages. Wait until your baby is in a deep sleep stage before transitioning her from one sleeping place to another, such as from your bed to a crib or from carseat to bed or crib. 

Stay flexible. No single approach will work with all babies all the time, or even all the time with the same baby. Don't persist with a failing experiment. If the "sleep program" isn't working for your family, drop it. 

If your current daytime or nighttime routine is not working for you, think about what changes you can make in yourself and your lifestyle that will make it easier for you to meet your baby's needs.

? · Answer

A pat on the back for forming a routine. We do something somewhat similar with my daughter, only I put her in a sleep sack, give her a pacifier, rock her until she is asleep and put her down in her crib. She has slept for us with no problem. Like you do we give her a bath before and feed her. I think the most important thing is really, routine. We do rock her to sleep and I know some say not too, but we've never really had a problem. She is 15 months and I am still guilty of rocking. My baby girl sleeps through the night and takes a 2-3 hour nap everyday. Just the fact that you are taking the time to do what you are doing is really wonderful. Your baby will do great, just do whatever routine works best for you and your baby.

D · Answer

You don't mention how old your little guy is. It sounds like you are doing just fine so far. You have a consistent routine and he is getting himself to sleep and staying that way. Some babies need to cry for a few minutes to let out some tension and that is not always a bad thing. Two things you might try - remove the mobile (it can be a little overstimulating to a baby who is trying to sleep) and move the bed time just a little earlier (being too tired can actually make it harder to fall asleep). You also might try leaving the room and letting him settle himself. He may just need a few minutes and be able to calm down and sleep by himself.

? · Answer

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Sleep training your baby...what did you do? If anything?

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