I know this is a sensitive subject around these parts, so hows about another poll for those who are not ready to come out. My sleep training books say start at 4 months. So I gotta know...
O13 Sleep training 182 votes
Whateva- I sleep trained my baby at 4 mos exactly and it worked
Sleep trained at 4 mos and failed, so it's on hold
Plan on tackling it afte/aroundr 6 mos
Sleep training is a load of crap
Re: O13 Sleep training
9/13/12 BFP 9/25/12 M/C at 6.5 weeks
***All AL'ers Welcome***
We rock to sleep, since 6 weeks old dd goes in her crib and if she wakes up I go rock her or give her a paci. Most of the time she isn't hungry she just wakes herself up.
However, I do not believe that I can "fix" his crappy sleep with crappy sleep training. He's not being manipulative ... he's hungry or cold or he has a cough or a noise woke him or ....
I think in general, I'm probably a little more comfortable with crying than a lot of moms, out of necessity. If I'm alone with them and am occupied with one (changing a diaper, putting one to sleep, getting one dressed ect) and the other starts crying, there is often not much I can do except console from across the room, and they might cry for several minutes until I am finished what I am doing. So far this does not seem to have harmed my girls, they are healthy and happy. I don't see a difference between this kind of crying and say, crying in the crib while I stand next to them and comfort them (without picking them up right away). So we have been doing that a bit more. I don't let it go on for too long and if it seems like they are getting really worked up, I pick them up. Anyway, I don't know if that's considered sleep training but that's what we're doing lately.
I'm definitely pro sleep training after 6 months. I know, I know they're going to take my AP parenting badge. So many of my non-CIO friends ultimately had to resort to a few nights of it and the babies all slept better afterwards.
Francesca Pearl is here! Josephine Hope is almost 3!
Dare I say it.... My LO sleeps from 9:30-5:30 and takes two 1.5 hour naps a day. I can't complain *runs and knocks on all the wood she can find*
I haven't done any research on it to make a decision. But I will NOT be doing any CIO despite what my pedi says.
He sleeps OK because we bed share so even when he eats frequently I barely notice before I fall back to sleep.
Once I try to get him into the crib in his room may be a different story though.
I can't imagine doing anything now regardless. He's teething so badly that he needs extra cuddles.
And after reading "mommy, somebody needs you" and crying....forget it.
With DD2, I tried cosleeping but after 7-8 months she refused to sleep with me anymore. We started a gentler CIO soon after. It worked awesome. She just needed to get some yelling out before she was ready to sleep. Never more than 45 seconds. I could hold her and rock her for 2 hours and she wouldn't sleep. 45 seconds of yelling and she would go right out.
dD3 is an awesome sleeper. I hope we can avoid CIO with her, but I'm not afraid to use it if needed in the future.
ETA: left out a word
DS is another story. He hates his crib most of the time so he sleeps in the RNP a lot. He has very bad reflux so I don't force the crib yet. He is no where near the naturally good sleeper DD was. That said, I will likely do some type of sleep training but likely not CIO, and not until he is older (>6mos) and outgrowing the reflux. I know he is going to need some help but probably wont respond well to Ferber or CIO so I'm going to have to do some research.
I believe you have to look at each child individually and do what is best for each one. Like a pp said, it is about teaching them to be able to soothe and fall asleep independently. Some kids won't need any guidance, while others may need a lot of help. Some may just need to cry for a few minutes to get settled and others would scream for hours if no one intervened. It's about doing what is best to help YOUR child sleep and that looks different for everyone.
Along that spectrum you have Ferber, Weisbluth (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child), Pantley (No-Cry Sleep Solution), Waldburger (The SleepEasy Solution), among others.
You just have to figure out what makes sense to you, what works for your child/family, and what you're comfortable with . . . like pretty much every parenting decision you make.