To sleep or not to sleep, that’s the question – at least for babies
It’s an ongoing battle for parents – experienced or new – and when paired with constant questions of ‘do they sleep through the night?’ can be maddening.
It’s the last thing you need when hopping from heart-stopping love for your baby to pure exhaustion.
Sleep training methods can help you and your baby get some much-needed shut-eye.
Here are five of them explained:
Cry-it-out method
This involves completing your bedtime routine, leaving the nursery and if your baby cries through the night don’t respond.
There are different levels of the cry-it-out method, you can let them cry for a short amount of time or until the morning.
Find what works for you and your baby and go from there, but be aware, that studies suggest that it can be traumatising for both children and parents alike.
Ferber method
It’s similar to the cry-it-out way of doing things, but this is done in a more gradual way.
Parents go through their bedtime routine, close the nursery door and for the first few nights when your baby cries, you respond straight away.
This can involve reassuring words or touch but it is recommended that you avoid picking your baby up.
Continue that routine of leaving and coming back, increasing the amount of time between visits until you’ve reached about 10 or 15 minutes.
From there you can then just keep at it until they fall asleep.
Fading method
With this method, parents rely on soothing techniques to help their baby fall asleep independently, “fading” out reliance on you to fall asleep.
Behaviours that may “fade” over time include feeding, rocking, or snuggling your baby to sleep.
Over a period of time, you slowly “fade out” of each aspect of the nighttime routine that relies on you and gradually you will extend the independent time your baby spends falling asleep.
Pick-up/put-down method
The clue is in the name, this method involves picking up your baby whenever they cry and putting them down when they settle.
Keep repeating this until your little one falls asleep. This teaches them that you are close put and they are safe.
Chair method
With this method, you sit in a chair in the room but you will not undertake any soothing techniques when your baby cries.
From here, start to slowly move the chair away every few nights getting further and further away until you can eventually leave the room.
This method can be distressing for both parent and baby so in the early days maybe you will rub your baby’s hand to offer reassurance but try to avoid picking them up.
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