Getting your baby to sleep can be one of the most frustrating and exhausting tasks of parenthood. Most mums and dads look forward to the night they can lay their baby down and get some uninterrupted sleep for themselves. Unfortunately, the reality is that getting your baby to sleep isn't usually easy and some baby sleep training is required. Here are some of the most popular sleep training methods.
Getting baby to sleep: the Ferber sleep method
One of the best-known baby sleep training techniques is the Ferber sleep method, Dr. Richard Ferber is director of the Centre for Paediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital Boston and author of Solve Your Child's Sleep Problem.
On day one, using the Ferber sleep method, put your baby to bed while she is still awake but tired and ready to sleep. Then leave her room. She will probably not fall asleep on her own and will cry. Wait five minutes, and then re-enter your baby's room. Try to console your baby, but do not pick her up or stay for more than a short time -- about two or three minutes.
The second time the baby cries, wait a little longer -- 10 minutes -- before re-entering the room to console her. Again, do not pick her up or stay more than a short time.
The third time the baby cries, wait 15 minutes before going into the room and offering the basic comfort used the first two times.
Repeat the process as long as needed on the first night, waiting 15 minutes between intervals. Eventually, the baby will fall asleep on her own during one of those time periods. If she wakes up during the night after falling asleep, begin the schedule again, starting with the minimum wait time for that day and working up to the maximum wait time.
On the second night, use the same procedure but start at 10 minutes for the first time interval. Then progress to 15 and then 20 minutes. For every night after, extend the intervals by five minutes. In time, the baby will learn to fall asleep on her own.
Parents wishing to try the Ferber sleep method should be well-rested before they start sleep training. That's because, in the early days especially, they will be spending a lot of time over the course of the night listening for their baby's cries, checking their watches, and entering and exiting their baby's room. Dr Ferber would say that most babies are sleeping through the night or only waking once by 3 months old and then definitely sleeping through the night by 5 months.
It's easy to become frustrated getting your baby to sleep, particularly if progress isn't immediate. But avoid picking your baby up or, if she is used to sleeping in her own room, taking her to your room because that will undo any progress made up to that point.
Getting baby to sleep: the gradual parent removal method
Parents who don't want to leave their baby while she is still awake may opt for the gradual removal method. According to this technique, sit in a chair next to your baby's bed and wait there until she falls asleep. Do this for two nights. Then move your chair two feet away on the third and fourth nights and five feet away from the bed on the fifth and sixth nights. By the seventh night, sit in the doorway, and on the ninth night, stay in the hallway. Shortly after this, by the 10th night or by the end of the second week, the baby should be able to fall asleep by herself.
Parents who don't want to leave their baby while she is still awake may opt for the gradual removal method. According to this technique, sit in a chair next to your baby's bed and wait there until she falls asleep. Do this for two nights. Then move your chair two feet away on the third and fourth nights and five feet away from the bed on the fifth and sixth nights. By the seventh night, sit in the doorway, and on the ninth night, stay in the hallway. Shortly after this, by the 10th night or by the end of the second week, the baby should be able to fall asleep by herself.
Getting baby to sleep: the 'cry it out' method
This method is simple. Put the baby down and let her cry herself to sleep without any additional comforting. Experts caution, however, that parents using this method might ignore their crying baby when there is some other real, not sleep-related, problem.
This method can also be a great test of parents' will. It is difficult to do nothing while your baby wails away. But by giving in after 15 minutes, a half-hour, or even more, the baby learns that her parents will come and get her if she persists, making sleep training more difficult.
Getting baby to sleep: the scheduled awakenings method
This method asks a parent to do something that seems contradictory and, on the face of it, counterproductive - wake up a sleeping baby.
With the scheduled awakenings method, observe and record your baby's natural waking times during the night for a week. A pattern of regular waking times should emerge. Then, following this schedule, wake the baby 15 minutes before each of those natural awakening times and soothe the baby back to sleep each time. After the first week, each day extend the waking times by 15 minute intervals. The baby's "unscheduled" awakenings - those that don't follow the regular pattern - should gradually stop. Eventually you should be able to phase out the "scheduled" awakenings until she is able to sleep through the night.
For infants who routinely wake up at predictable times during the night, the scheduled awakenings method can be a gentler alternative to the Ferber, or crying it out, methods because there’s often less crying and parents feel that they have more control. However, it can be hard to bring oneself to wake up a sleeping baby. Some experts are firmly against this method and question whether it actually works, saying that a baby’s waking schedule is too varied for this method to work effectively. Also, this method can take rather a long time – up to three or four weeks.
Getting baby to sleep: some things that won't help your baby sleep
Desperate times can call for desperate measures, but don't even bother with some popular but ineffective ways to get your baby to sleep through the night.
Desperate times can call for desperate measures, but don't even bother with some popular but ineffective ways to get your baby to sleep through the night.
These include:
- Giving your baby solid foods at an early age in the belief that she is waking during the night because she is hungry. There's no research to support this, and you'll just condition her to want to eat during the night.
- Eliminating naps during the daytime. Don't do it. This risks making your baby overtired, which will make it harder for her to fall and stay asleep.
- Putting your baby to bed later. Like eliminating naps, this will probably make your baby overly tired, making it harder for her to fall asleep. Over-tired babies become more distressed.
Getting baby to sleep: which method works best?
A recent study in the journal Sleep said that most behavioural intervention techniques work, but there's not enough information to recommend one over the other. What you decide will most likely come down to personal preference.
- Giving your baby solid foods at an early age in the belief that she is waking during the night because she is hungry. There's no research to support this, and you'll just condition her to want to eat during the night.
- Eliminating naps during the daytime. Don't do it. This risks making your baby overtired, which will make it harder for her to fall and stay asleep.
- Putting your baby to bed later. Like eliminating naps, this will probably make your baby overly tired, making it harder for her to fall asleep. Over-tired babies become more distressed.
Getting baby to sleep: which method works best?
A recent study in the journal Sleep said that most behavioural intervention techniques work, but there's not enough information to recommend one over the other. What you decide will most likely come down to personal preference.
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