Sleep Training
Now that my son is 10 weeks old, I am starting to sleep train him. Although he is still young, I believe it is never too late to start and I don’t want to make the mistake of having him depend on us to fall asleep. I know too many parents that still have to rock, nurse or drive their children around in cars so they will fall asleep. But the question is “how do you sleep train an infant?”
The goal is to have your child fall asleep by herself in her crib, but how you get to that point is up to you. You can start out by putting your child to bed and checking on them every once in awhile. Better yet, you can use your baby monitor to watch your baby. If your baby cries go in a reassure him that you are there, but don’t pick him up. Rub his back, comfort without holding and rocking him to sleep. Reassure them and leave again. I know it is hard and you just want the crying to stop, but I promise you are comforting and teaching them to soothe themselves at the same time. Within three to five nights, you’re bound to see a dramatic improvement in the bedtime routine.
OR you can go an alternative route: for three nights, you can sit next to the crib until your baby falls asleep, then three nights across the room, then in the doorway, and then in the hallway.
When you check on your baby, it’s better do it consistently, rather than waiting until they really start crying. If the baby cries in the night, respond to it. In two weeks you will have a baby that can fall asleep on their own.
[tags] infants, sleep training, bedtime, bedtime routines, parenting, kids,
toddlers, putting baby to bed [/tags]
Leave a Reply