Sleep training: It’s a controversial topic. Nobody wants to say they left their baby to scream for an hour straight and let them cry themselves to sleep. Partly because they feel guilt and partly because of the looks and judgement that will surely come their way. Well, here we go. I’ll be that mama. Yes, I let my baby cry himself to sleep.
Let’s talk a little bit about what that looks like, what some of the most common methods of sleep training are, and why my husband and I chose the method we chose.
Cry it out: This is the most controversial of the methods. You do your bedtime routine, kiss baby goodnight, and leave the room with no plan to come back until morning. It doesn’t matter how much baby cries or if you feel super guilty.
Ferber method: This involves still doing the bedtime routine, kiss baby goodnight, and leave the room. You start with a small interval of time to let baby cry. If the baby is still crying, you can go back in for a set small amount of time to comfort them without picking them up. Then, you increase the interval before you go in again. Rinse and repeat with increased intervals, starting with the highest interval you used the night before when starting a new night.
Less crying methods: Parents can choose any combination of comfort measures, including sitting next to the crib until the baby falls asleep. The parent can also be in the room, but not near the crib, moving further away each night until no longer in the room.
I started listening to a podcast called PedsDocTalk before Jack was born. I wanted to be ready for everything. Well, I didn’t get to the sleep episodes until he was a few months old and, man, was I ready for those! After my husband and I both listened to the five part series, we agreed that Ferber method made the most sense for us and for Jack’s personality. You know your baby best. You know which method will be most likely to work.
So, we chose the Ferber Method and that first night we were so ready to see the results. Well, we did our bedtime routine, said we loved him and kissed him goodnight. Then, we left the room. He cried. We started our intervals at five minutes, then increased to seven, then ten, then twelve, then fifteen. We made it to about half an hour intervals before he finally gave in and stayed asleep. Well, he woke up in the middle of the night and we started again. This went on for a few days until he was finally able to put himself to sleep in about 5-10 minutes.
Now, this baby sleeps for 11-12 hours every night! He might wake up a couple of times in the middle of the night, but will fuss just a few minutes and put himself right back to sleep.
We started sleep training between three and four months. Many books, doctors, and experts will say to sleep train when babies are six months and older. However, after doing some digging and listening to Dr. Mona on PedsDocTalk, it was evident that Jack was ready. Always seek advice from your child’s pediatrician if you are unsure.
Sleep training might not be for everyone. But as a doctoral student, currently work-from-home, full-time employee, marathon-training mama, this was the only way survival was going to be possible. Jack’s nighttime sleep has persisted through nap strikes and learning to roll over. Next hurdle, teething!
