For every new parent, one of the biggest headaches is sleeping. This requires us to train the baby to sleep. Sleep training can teach your baby how to sleep by himself so that they can sleep all night or have longer sleep. What are the best sleep training methods? Here we introduce the five most common sleep training methods for infants. First, let us know the questions as below:
What Is Baby Sleep Training? What Is The Best Age For Sleep Training?
Baby sleep training methods are also known as sleep training methods and baby sleep methods. Baby Sleep training is teaching your baby to fall asleep on their own and learn to self-soothe. When the baby wakes up in the middle of the night, he can no longer need his parents to coax him to sleep but fall asleep again on his own.
The best age for sleep training is usually around 4 to 6 months old. As your baby is ready to be unswaddled but before they are standing up. If you miss this time, it doesn’t matter, from now on, it’s the best time.
What Should We Do Before Starting Baby Sleep Training?
Before training your baby to fall asleep, the most important thing is to ensure a regular schedule. Go to bed at a fixed time every night, make sure your baby is awake for a while before going to bed, and establish a calm and stable sleep process. Such as taking a bath, massage, dimming the lights, dressing the baby in pajamas, telling stories, and so on. There must be an interval between feeding and falling asleep to prevent the baby from associating breastfeeding with falling asleep. After these preparations, we can start to train baby to sleep by themselves.
- Extinction/Cry-It-Out (CIO)
The Cry-It-Out Sleep Training Method, also known as Extinction, a version of the Ferber method. For babies, crying is a normal response to settling down at bedtime. The way Cry It Out works is simple – you do your bedtime routine, put your baby to bed awake, and then leave the room. If your baby cries, you are not supposed to go in to check on her; instead, you let her cry it out cry it out until he falls asleep. This means no soothing, no comforting, no anything from you as he likely cries himself to sleep. The thinking here is that if you allow your baby to cry for a period of time, but then go in and ‘rescue’ her, you have all but guaranteed that she will cry for that amount of time the next night because she will expect you to come and ‘rescue’ her again.
- The Chair Method
The chair method is a very gradual sleep-training method, it helps your infant feel safe and secure. you prep your baby for bed, but instead of leaving the room, you sit in a chair next to the crib. Every few nights, move the chair further and further away until you’re out of the room. This method requires a lot of discipline on the part of the parents. Baby learns that you are close by to offer comfort, but also that he can get to sleep on his own.
- Pick-Up/Put-Down
The Pick-Up-Put-Down Method is another gentle sleep training method. When it’s time to sleep, and your baby is fussing or crying in the crib or bassinet, you pick them up and comfort them until they are calm and drowsy. Then, you put them back in their crib to sleep, repeating this cycle until your baby is finally asleep. This method need quite a bit of patience. But this method is for the little baby better because a baby who is getting heavy can hurt your back to pick them up over and over.
- Fading (FIO)
The Fading Method is a very gentle method of sleep coaching too. You can help your baby fall asleep. Over time, you do less to put your baby to sleep. Your baby will gradually form the habit of falling asleep.
- Camping Out
Camping out is similar to the chair method of sleep training, it is one of the more gentle sleep training methods. You can camp out next to your child’s sleep space to offer reassurance as they learn to settle on their own.
Any other sleep training tips?
Yes, there are many methods for training babies to sleep. Sleep training a baby teaches your baby how to fall asleep on their own so they can sleep through the night or take longer naps. Sleep training can be challenging to say the least. But in this way, ‘you’ can also have a better sleep. It’s likely that the better you feel, the more patience you’ll have in caring for your little one.