XP: How do I teach him to self-soothe at night?

Sarai28

DS is just not a good sleeper.  He doesn't wake to eat at night, but he will still wake several times a night.  He used to be just fine with getting the paci put back in his mouth, but that doesn't always work now.  Many times he won't go back down until I finally pick him up.  He falls asleep instantly when held, but wakes right back up when I put him down.  I am hoping this is a phase, but it's getting exhausting!  Is he too young to let him cry himself back to sleep for a while?  I hate to let him cry too long.  How do I teach him to self-soothe back to sleep?  Thanks so much for any suggestions!!

abp51008

People are so mixed about this but in my opinion you know your child and you know when it's best to sleep train. There's a ton of literature out there about sleep training. We did the sleep training with my son and he is a great sleeper. He is great at naps during the day and sleeps through the night from 8 PM-7 AM. I let J fuss for a few minutes (never more than 10) but I never let him get really upset/hysterical. At 10 mins, if he wasn't asleep yet I would go in a sing to him, shush him, give him is paci, hold him, rub his belly for a min or two to get him calm and then quietly back away. I only had to do that for about a week until he would go down on his own. There have been nights recently where he wakes up in the middle of the night, but we give him back his paci, turn on his music, rub his belly for a min or two and then he starts to drift off to sleep. BTW we used to the ever-controversial baby wise book. The thing about all of those books is that you adjust it to fit your baby and your needs. Good Luck!

hispenguin

PP said it best. You know when/if it's time to sleep train your child.

I've used the Baby Whisperer book in our house. It's worked great for us, but I don't follow it 100%. I've tailored it to DD and our family. There are a bunch of different books/techniques out there. It's just a matter of finding one that works best for you.