Generally speaking, most babies learn to sleep through the night by about 4-5 months of age. Although they would like to, most babies do not need to be fed multiple times during the night. There is a lot of information available about sleep training, such as the “cry it out” or “extinction method”, the Ferber method (gradual extinction method), and the gradual method. These methods usually take about 10 days, with the first few days being the most challenging, but with each night you will see improvements.The most important point is that whether to sleep train and which method to choose is a personal decision for a family. There is no conclusive research that shows one sleep training method is more effective than another. It is the consistency that is important, not which method you choose. You and your partner need to be on the same page about this because you are a team.
Sleep training cannot be done halfway – doing so can actually lead to more crying because it teaches and rewards your child for crying to get attention.Therefore, it is best to wait until you are completely ready and firmly determined to begin sleep training. In addition, there are studies that show that sleep training is not harmful to infants and that these methods do not have long-term adverse psychological, behavioral, or emotional effects on infants. Sleep training period (usually 10-14 days).
Sleeping environment:
- Infants should sleep in a separate crib.
- Choose a regular bedtime and try to stay within 30 minutes of that time every night (e.g., between 7-7:30 p.m.).
- Consider using a white noise machine that runs all night.
- Keep the room dark.
Bedtime routine:
This is when baby signals that he is ready to sleep. It should last about 15-20 minutes. Sample routine, customizable to your family: Feed → Put on sleep bag → Read → Turn on white noise machine → Sing and rock for a minute or two → Put in crib
Morning:
Set a wake-up time. This is usually about 11 hours after bedtime, or between 6-7am. Do not remove your baby from the crib before the set wake-up time.
Nighttime feedings:
Most babies at this age do not need nighttime feedings, or only need one nighttime feeding at most.
Dream feedings: Before you go to bed, gently pick up your baby and offer breast milk or a bottle. Try to keep the lights low or off and the environment quiet and calm. Your baby may wake up slightly but will become sleepy again with the feeding. After a gentle burp, place him/her back in the crib.