How To Sleep Train: Sleep Training 101

Whether you’re familiar with sleep training or you’re just starting to dabble in the idea, let’s start by addressing the basics.

Do all children need to be sleep trained? No! Definitely not. It is very possible to set up a healthy sleep foundation from a very early age by “sleep shaping.” Most importantly though, if you are happy with your current sleep scenario, there’s no need to change!

How do I know when it’s time to sleep train? I recommend you wait until baby is at least between 4-6 months old to begin sleep train. If baby still has night feeds or is maybe waking once a night and it isn’t bothering you, then there is no reason to sleep train. However, if you find that your baby or child is waking 3-4+ times a night, or they’re not taking age appropriate naps, it might be the right time to sleep train.

Things to consider: Before sleep training think about any upcoming travel. Is your baby still recovering from an illness? Is there a holiday coming up that is going to cause a major kink in your routine for several days? If so, wait until things have gotten back to normal, to sleep train.

Ways to Sleep Train

Let’s look at ways to sleep train in order from least parental presence to most parental presence:

Extinction: With this method, you do not go to your child overnight when they wake up. You put them to bed and see them in the morning!

Timed Intervals: This is also known as Leave and Check, Ferber, or simply just intervals. This is when you “check-in” with your child after an allotted amount of time has passed. Some children do better with shorter intervals (3-7 minutes or so), many do better with longer intervals (15+ minutes).

In-room or Camping Out: This is when the parent starts near their child’s bed and works toward moving away from their bed over a period of 2-3 weeks, until they are completely phased out of the room and the child is falling asleep independently.

Pick Up/Put Down: This is typically used for babies under 5 months and involves picking up, soothing, and putting the baby back down repeatedly. The reason this is not ideal for older babies is because it is often much too stimulating for them. This method can take several weeks or even months.

Which is Right for My Family?

It’s important to understand that more parental presence does not necessarily mean less tears. Let’s look at the pick up put down method for example; this is often advertised as “gentle,” and in some cases it is. For others, it’s absolutely not. For some babies the experience of being pick up and put down a zillion times in a night is much more upsetting than being provided the space to soothe on their own for periods of time. So don’t fall into the trap of one method being nicer or more gentle than the other. Under the guidance of a sleep consultant, one can help walk you through the correct method for your family.

Within my own practice I most commonly use a timed interval method or a camping out method, depending on the family’s needs.

Again, here is your reminder that if you are satisfied with your current situation, that is okay! There is no need to change a thing!

If you are considering sleep training, please head to my services page.

Sweet Dreams!!

Lexi