Sleep training?

Question

Hey momas. I saw a post about ladies saying they sleep trained their babies. My sister just had a baby he is two weeks old now and I’m due any day now with my LO. My nephew sleeps literally all day except for when she wakes him for feedings. But then he be up all night on his own without any one having to wake him. My question is. How do you sleep train? I would like info on this because soon as my 6 weeks are up I plan on going back to work. And I will love to be rested enough to function throughout the day. And I will also pass the information to my sister. Cause right now she just going with the flow but she will have to go back to work soon as well and being up from 11pm-5am won’t be good for her. Like at all.

Answer

You cannot, and should not, sleep train a newborn. This is NORMAL and MOST babies go through this. They cannot distinguish night from day. You can help them transition naturally by keeping day naps full of light, with noise etc and night time pitch black and quiet (or with white noise)
Also unless her baby is losing weight or in danger of losing weight, she shouldn’t be waking him/her. Let them sleep.
You honestly just need to face the reality that you’ll very likely be sleep deprived and not well rested when going back to work.
You need to sleep when the baby sleeps. Ignore chores 90% of the time. Have people help you out so you can sleep.

Answer

Please please please do not sleep train that young. 3 months at the earliest and even that is way too early in my opinion. They don’t really fall into a predictable rhythm until 5 or 6 months and you’re just going to be forcing it on a baby that isn’t mature enough to be left alone to sleep, your baby will just cry himself to sleep which isn’t really the point of sleep training. A baby that is sleeping all day has his days and nights mixed up, very common. The days need to be bright (lots of light, go outside), active, music, playtime, tummy time etc. night time needs to be quiet, dim lights, soothing voices, baby eventually gets it.

Answer

First of all, you can do or try what ever you want. It’s your child. But let me tell you first hand, at that young of an age, they are just adjusting to being in this world and it’s not possible to sleep train a 6 week year old. There are things you can do to set up good sleep habits that will get your baby set up to sleep through the night earlier than most (keep it light during the day, keeping the baby stimulated and awake during appropriate awake windows for their age). My suggestion is looking into “Taking Cara Babies”. She is a sleep consultant and I’ve heard great things about it. Unfortunately when you have a newborn, sleep goes out the window for everyone except the baby.

Answer

First infants sleep all day and wake through the night. It’s just how they are. Sleep is developmental. Second - there are ways to sleep train without them crying it out. I’ve been following a bedtime routine since the day I came home from the hospital with both of my babies. It’s never too early to set up positive sleep associations. We go upstairs around 630 every night. Bath if needed. Jammies. We play on my bed - read books, sing. Snuggle. I swaddle and nurse my 4 month old. Then I give him to my partner who will make a bottle if needed. I take my 19 month old to go brush teeth at 730. I put lavender essential oil on myself and my partner. I take her in her room, turn on white noise, stars night light and rock her to sleep. Put her in the crib, cover her and sneak out. While I’m in there my partner bounces baby on the edge of the bed and gets him in his crib. It’s the little things you do consistently that signal them that it’s time to sleep.  Kids thrive off of consistent routines. My daughter has been sleeping through the night in her crib in her room since 8 months old. My 4 month old still gets up 2-3 times a night most nights. We have been lucky a few nights with 6-8 hr sleeps 😊