Sleep Training Index




Make sure to look over the Book Reviews. They give you an idea of the methods the author prefers and contain a list of links to posts about
them.

Sleep Training - General Info (see methods below)


Sleep Training - Best Timing

Sleep Training by Age


Sleep Training by Book/Author


Sleep Training by Method

7 comments :

  1. Hi Rachel,
    Thanks so much for your blog... I've been haunted by voices of what a bad mom I've been because of all the bad habits/associations/props I have given my 4month 3week girl. Reading your blog helps me feel like there's hope for me to retrain her and help her establish good sleep habits. Currently she falls asleep only while nursing - i.e. for daytime naps as well as sleeping at night. I've read so much of your blog, but still going through more - so informative! Thank you, but - if you could point me to where I could find information on how to sleep train if the prop was the boob - I'd be so grateful! I plan to sleep train her between 5.5 - 7.5 months!

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    1. Indy Nile,
      Don't feel guilty at all for having props. Many man parents do at this age. It's not a huge deal and very possible to work through. It will mean you'll have more resistance for your baby with sleep than it would otherwise, but that will be short term. For nursing being a prop, what method you use to end the prop depends a lot on what kind of sleep training you want to do. You'll find a more gentle method under the no cry sleep solution (gentle removal plan) and some other methods would be simply putting her down awake after a feed and then doing whatever sleep training method you want (checks, pupd etc) or putting her down progressively less sleepy or holding her until she falls asleep (although she'll be upset--it's best to not have mom do it) to break the nursing prop then move onto helping her go into her crib (this just breaks it down into two steps instead of one) with whatever st method you want.

      rachel

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    2. Rachel, thanks so much for replying so promptly. Could you help me clarify how to sleep train step-by-step? I think it's not going to matter if I chose a CIO or non-CIO, because my baby will cry as long as no boob is given.
      Assuming it's time for bed. My routine would be bath, massage, feed, perhaps a book/song, and then sleep train. Would that mean the 4 "S" first? The setting is ready, I should still swaddle, sit and shush-pat, then PUPD or CIO or etc? I'm having trouble even swaddling her because she is so strong, so quick to catch the swaddle and stuff it in her mouth or wriggle out of it. If she's unsuccessful, she starts whining-crying with frustration even before trying to help her sleep. Please advise!

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  2. Hi, My son is 3 months old. I came across your blog because I was looking for some answers on how to help baby sleep faster at night, it was taking him 2 hours to fall asleep every night, but once he did he would sleep for 5-6 hours straight and wake up eat and sleep for another 3 hours. So I read some of the suggestions, and started making some changes. But since I started making sure he takes more naps during the day so he is not overtired, have a bed time routine, go to bed earlier so he is not overtired, he wakes up even more often (every two hours) and still takes forever to fall asleep. So now I don't know what to do... Its worse! Please help. Michelle

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  3. Hi. Thank you so much for this blog. I would be lost without it! My daughter is almost five months old and usually (at least 85% of the time) falls asleep on her own for naps and bedtime. It takes her about 10-15 minutes. She has been for about three months with a pacifier and lovie. She does not give good sleep cues so I just go based on wake times. When she does get over tired (either because I didn't get her down on time or she didn't get herself settled and asleep before getting overtired), she ends up screaming. Shushing, patting, etc does not help at all. Up to now I have been helping her to sleep when she gets to this point, but it is taking longer and longer to do (sometimes more than an hour if I try and rock/bounce/sway her). I often can't even nurse her to sleep! To be honest sometimes I drive her around (which I swore I would never do) and she falls asleep so fast. Once she has slept for about 15 minutes, I go home, get her out of the car seat, and put her down and she will usually go to sleep on her own without a fuss! I really try and get her down on time and cannot figure out why sometimes she does not settle herself. Do you have any suggestions of what sleep training method I can use when she does get to the point of being overtired? I am trying to prevent the overtiredness but am at a loss of what to do when it does happen. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

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    1. Mary,
      At 5 months, I am wondering if you left her alone to figure it out (don't rescue her) if it wouldn't be the easiest and quickest way for her to figure things out and prevent future over tiredness and long struggles with her falling asleep. A sleep log may help you figure out the over tiredness issue to prevent it--maybe her tiredness is adding up over time rather than just at one nap?

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  4. Thank you for responding! It has thankfully been getting better over time. I think she struggles most during wonder weeks.

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