Sleep training?

Question

I’m super on the fence regarding sleep training. My little one is only waking twice a night which I can handle but where I would like some help in is getting her to sleep. Up until a week ago it was easy to get her the go down. Now she screams and cries each time. I track her wake windows and have tried to tweak them a little but no help. Additionally she won’t sleep on her own anymore. She has to be held! Which is also new. 
I’ll be back at work in January and would like to help her get into an easier falling asleep routine for my mother in law. She’s just such a happier baby during the day if she gets her naps in.
What are your opinions on sleep training? I’m looking into taking cara babies or the peaceful sleeper courses. Any opinions on those?

Answer

You asked for opinions, so here’s mine:
Babies waking at night and needing a caregiver to be present to fall and stay asleep is a biological survival mechanism. Babies are supposed to wake periodically through the night. There have been minimal studies on how sleep training effects the infant brain, and while analysis of the ones that have been done show “no harm”, there is a difference between no harm found and evidence of no harm. We chose not to sleep train for these reasons. Modifying baby’s natural survival mechanisms for the sake of our convenience seems unnecessary. All babies eventually sleep on their own. I have yet to meet an adult that needs their parent present to fall asleep. Let babies be babies.

Answer

Sleep training is not recommended before 6 months at the earliest and even then it has to be very gentle. Most extinction training is not worth it and although babies will eventually stop crying, the level of stress continues even when they are not crying. You're teaching the baby to basically give up on calling/counting on you. Unfortunately babies go through phases of regression and you just have to ride it out. I know it's hard though. Best of luck

Answer

How old is baby? Could you be at the 4 month regression maybe and it’s just temporary?

Answer

My boy is 14 weeks old and now we are on night 3 going through this. I was able to put him down for naps and he would fall asleep within minutes. Now, nothing works. I think it’s sleep regression and i’m taking the taking cara babies and honestly it hasn’t really helped for the 3/4 months . It helped for the newborn stage.

Answer

Last night my baby woke up 1 hour after I put him to bed and refused to go back inside his crib ! He never done that ever since he’s born. (He currently has a cold) so I took it as an excuse to bed-share and we cuddle the whole night. It was great. If it happens once in a while I don’t think he will forget how to sleep in his crib. Soak up the love and cuddle. —- yes remember safe bed-sharing etc 🙄 that’s my advice rather than go nuts just to win a battle of YOU HAVE TO SLEEP IN YOUR CRIB NO EXCEPTION

Answer

I've been using the no cry sleep solution for the past two months or so. I like it since it's super gentle and it's more about maintaining and tweaking as they grow rather than a "training." It does sound like your babe might be going through a sleep regression or growth spurt or developmental leap. It's ok to just ride it out and then they get back on track. Just keep in mind that if you do some sort of sleep training that it's not a one and done. Sleep changes as they grow, all the way through adolescence! At which point we'll probably be wondering how to get them up on time for school! #parenthood lol 😂

Answer

Not sure if this is helpful, but at this stage they go through a major leap that involves the three C’s crying, clingy and cranky. That could very well explain why sleep changed all of a sudden. It’s only temporary. Your doing great!

Answer

I did this for naps with my first: I’d put him down drowsy but not totally asleep. If he fussed or cried I’d let him cry for five minutes. I’d go back in, pick him up, rock him for 1 minute then put him back down. It worked really well and helped him to learn to fall asleep on his own. I just started it with my daughter too.

Answer

I did the Ferber method, it worked within a few days and I was in the same boat. He wouldn’t sleep for naps unless he was being held. 
Google it and see if it’s something that you’re interested in doing. It’s a midway point between the harsh cry it out and the more gentle training methods.

Sleep training?

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