First off, be aware that the ages listed below correspond with your child's adjusted age if he is born early.
Wondering where these good and bad periods to sleep train come from? Look at my Bedtiming Book Review. I'm not going to go into any more detail than that. If you are interested, I suggest you get the book Bedtiming
. It has great in depth information about each developmental stage your child will go through up until age 4 and why each of these stages is a good or bad time to sleep train. Enjoy my professional writing skills below...0 to 2.5 months - not so good
2.5 to 4 months - good
4 to 5.5 months - not so good
5.5 to7.5 months - ideal
8 to11 months - really not so good
12 to 16 months - good
17 to 21 months - not so good
22 to 27 months - good
28 months to 3 years - not so good
3 to 3.5 years - good
3.5 to 4 years - not so good
Thanks for such an informative site! However, I am a bit overwhelmed with all this good information. If a sleep training isn't so good during the 1 to 2.5 month old, what do you do? I have a 2 month old and we accidentally have him addicted to his swing to be able to sleep. I return to work in 3 weeks and need to figure out how to get him to take naps without it. I've been reading several different books for help and can't seem to find a good starting place that doesn't involve crying it out. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you1
ReplyDeleteI think the suggestions above are just guidelines. You can sleep train any time, but you MIGHT have more success (less crying, occures quicker and is easier to do) if you go with the times listed above. Notice the might. Every baby is different and I also can't say that their assumptions are for sure correct. Also, and they mention this in their book, some easy or angel babies will probably do well with sleep training at any given time.
ReplyDeleteSo you've got 3 weeks. No crying methods will most likely take longer to work so keep that in mind but, depending on your baby, you might be able to get there by then.Is there a reason that you can't use the swing in case your little one isn't able to sleep without it in 3 weeks time?
First, make sure you have a good pre-sleep routine. I would suggest trying to put your lo down sleepy but not asleep, even if you are putting him rigth into the sling just so he gets used to things. I suggest the baby whisperer 4 s routine. great for newborns. Work on good waktimes (look under blog index for post)
I would start off using the swing at a slower speed over time until you can use it with it off. Then you can work on transitioning out of the swing. At this point (or if the slowing down of the swing doesn't work) I would suggest you move onto some of the babywhisperer suggestions or some variation of them. You could also look over the No Cry Sleep Solution too. Look in the blog index. You may need to stay near your little guy and help him drift off to sleep or almost to sleep for a while, slowly decreasing how long/much help you give him. Some people will shush/pat (look for post) or stroke babies face. Baby might cry while you do this, but you will be by his side. Takes a lot of work but things get better eventually! In the index at the bottom there is a section titled sleep training and methods to help your baby sleep. Other things in this section might help. Good luck!
Thank you for pointing me the right direction! I wasn't so sure about the swing use after I return to work since he'll be going to daycare. I was worried that he'd start daycare, not have a swing, sleep little during the day which would mean tough nights of sleep. Do you have any posts on how to help them sleep without their swaddle? Or is it something you'd just go for in one big go - teach him to fall asleep on his own unswaddled? Thank you again!!
ReplyDeleteLisa C.
ReplyDeleteHere is a swaddling post. I wouldn't drop the swaddle before it is totally necessary. I have heard of some day cares not allowing it d/t some silly reasons/regulations.
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/01/swaddling.html
Many day cares do have swings. Maybe you have already checked into that though. Not saying you shouldn't try and drop the swing habit, just pointing that out :) Day care can be rough. Baby doesn't sleep much or only sleeps in the swing or others arms creating a rough situation for the evenings. Hopefully it'll go smoothly though. At least you'll have a baby that will learn to sleep in an environment with commotion. That's always been a problem with my kiddos. They just want to play if they can see or hear something going on.
Phew! Knowing I don't have to stop swaddling too really helps. I'll just tackle having him learn to fall asleep on his own. It's just now a matter of actually doing it and sticking to it. I hope to break the swing habit in time for day care. I've been looking into if they'll allow a swing if the transition isn't going as smoothly (and knowing babies, it may not) as I hoped.
ReplyDeleteThank you SO SO much for your help. Your site is amazing and has given me a lot to think about. I am so happy I stumbled across it. Also, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I know how busy life is and I appreciate it.
Lisa C.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Good luck!
I hope Lisa C can tell what happened to her trying to wean her kid out of the swing because I have the same issue except my son just turned 4 months and the swing's motor is starting to burn out. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteSlick,
ReplyDeleteSome kids transition very easily once they get past the newborn stage. Some probably go through some kind of tough transitional phase. I know of some parents that turn the swing on to a lower speed over time until it isn't on at all. THen they transition baby to a crib. Baby might still protest, but if you do it gradually, there will likely be less protest.
Just wanted to say that we used this info one year ago to train our then-12-month-old to sleep and it worked wonders! At 10.5 mos old we were pulling our hair out after 3 weeks of highly unsuccessful sleep training (read: torture for the whole family multiple times a day, no sleeping), and when I read this I decided to try waiting til the recommended 12 months old. After doing that, in 2 days she went to sleep all by herself with out a peep. She is now a terrific sleeper at age 2! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteKatie,
ReplyDeleteThat is great to hear that it worked for you! I love hearing feedback from others.
Rachel
Hey Lisa, is it too late??
ReplyDeleteI have a 15 mo daughter who just can not sleep with our being rocked. It all started with the colic where nothing but rocking would calm her down, and since she was our first, we continued it praying she'd eventually outgrow it. Well, child #2 is here, and she didn't. We have coslept from the beginning, and she wakes up about 2-4 times during the night, sometimes going down with hush/pat, at other times requiring rocking.
I tried modified CIO, when she was 13 mo and I was 8 month pregnant. Stayed by her side, hush/pat, PU/PD, but after giving it a week, failed. Tonight I'm starting training with a twist of my own. I rocked her until she was drowsy but not asleep, put her down in the crib, where she got excited for a while and played for about 10 mins. Dim lights, white noise, me hushing, tried to make her lie down but she wouldn't stay. so stepped back and let her CIO for 5 minutes. she finally went to sleep after 10 minutes of patting.
So my basic plan is to slowly decrease the amount of rocking, put her down less and less drowsy every night and hopefully hopefully not let her CIO too much. My question to you is what to do when she wakes up in the MOTN? Rock her until drowsy? Or not take her out of her crib at all?
Sorry for the long rant. Please advice
Mareeya,
ReplyDeleteThat is great that you have figured out a method that works for the two of you. I would keep up the consistency bd try to make sure you don't seem hesitant in your approach (in other wards, decide unde what conditions you stay nd go and follow through--if you keep coming back thinking maybe you should double check her etc then you will likely struggle with success--I hope that made sense!)
Sorry sorry, my computer is being weird right now so sorry for split comments and odd auto correct ect. You have a few options with the waking at night. Many kids will stop he night waking all by themselves several days after they learn to go to sleep well on their own so one method that people choose is to sleep train t bedtime but rock back to sleep(or whatever) in the middle of the night. This doesn't always work and sometimes parents don't want to wait it out. Another method would be to rock until drowsy but I would try the shushing in the crib first. And remember to not run in! I would also consider waiting a few minutes before going in regardless--just as you do after the bedtime routine.
DeleteRachel