Not Sleep Training?

Question

This may be a silly thing to ask, but is it okay for me to NOT sleep train? It seems like everyone I talk to has sleep trained their child, but I enjoy going to his room when he cries to feed him and rock him. I don’t like the sleep deprivation, but I enjoy knowing that I can be there for him when he needs me in the night. Would this have negative consequences?

Answer

If you're enjoying it then there is no reason to sleep train at this point. If/when it gets to the point that you no longer enjoy it and it is negatively affecting you, that is when it will be right for you and your family to look into sleep training. 
My first I couldn't cope with the broken sleep and was given the go ahead to sleep train at 4 months and it was the best thing for our family. This time around we are almost at 6 months and haven't done sleep training yet as baby is still in our room due to my grandmother living with us. She is moving out in April and that is when he will move to his own room and sleep training will happen if needed. He has weaned himself down to 2 feeds in the night which i can cope with, and am hopeful in the next month and a half he will decide he doesn't need any night feeds.

Answer

I don’t think it has negative consequences at all. I used to rock my son to sleep every time he woke up to the point that he would not nap or sleep anywhere but on me. I finally got him to fall asleep on his own and felt SO proud of him (and also relived bc I was exhausted) but I also miss rocking him to sleep a lot.. so we made cuddling a part of our bedtime routine.. that was my compromise! But as a side note I do know someone who has to pack up their 4yr old in the car every night and go for a drive to get her to sleep. I don’t think it’s because she did or did not sleep train but just be careful about which types of habits you form! I don’t think rocking and feeding are bad habits but I do know from other moms and from my own experiences that sometimes these habits take a toll on you too! Teaching them these kinds of skills is beneficial for the whole family.. but I don’t think you have to do that via formal sleep training.. you can also go at your own pace!  You’ll know if it’s needed for your baby and you’ll know when you’ve reached your own limit as well!

Answer

Do what you enjoy! I didn’t sleep train my first at all. He woke up more than the sleep trained babies I knew and he would wake up from any little noise, but I was fine dealing with that. I don’t think it negatively affected him aside from him maybe being more “needy” for naps and night time than a baby who learned to self soothe earlier. He did eventually learn to self soothe though so I don’t think there were any “long term” negative effects.
I sleep trained this baby, but very gentle. Modified the Ferber method so he never cried more than a few minutes at a time. He still wakes once a night to eat and I’m perfectly happy to go in and feed him. Really the only reason I sleep trained him was because I was having to bed share and hold him for naps. I just used it as a way to get him to sleep in his bed. If he was sleeping on his own before, I probably wouldn’t have done it.

Answer

I am right there with you! It seems like my son is finding his own rythm and patterns for sleep anyways. I'm just trying to pay attention to his cues and do what seems natural for him.

Answer

We haven't sleep trained, although we're very lucky that baby is a pretty good sleeper so hasnt needed it. The only thing we have done is try to put her down drowsy so she learns to go to sleep on her own.

Not Sleep Training?

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