Sleep training means you would train your baby sleep as comfortable as possible on his/her crib independently. Sometimes baby wakes up at night and needs constant care throughout the night. But to remind you, you would have to wake up every night to do that which would make your sleep incomplete. The idea of sleep training is that you don’t have to wake up anymore to make your baby sleep again.
Get All The People On Board
Before you start sleep training your baby, make sure that everyone is on board. Know about the medical conditions such as refluxes, sleep apnea and allergies from your pediatrician. Know how long the baby has to sleep, feed within the 24 hour period. Make a plan with your partner. Decide how you both take a shift of the baby work. Try to feed the baby once before you put the baby to bed, and then do not feed until the next morning.
Create A Routine
Make a fifteen-minute routine which would soothe your baby’s mind before he/she goes to sleep. Pick an activity for these minutes like reading a story out loud or singing lullabies to your baby. Pick a starting date to start sleep training your baby. Many people choose Fridays to start sleep training because of the upcoming weekend. Many choose vacation days so that they don’t have to worry about going to work at the very next day.
Create The Right Environment
Creating the right environment is necessary for the baby to sleep. If the baby’s nursery is sunny, she or he may have trouble sleeping there. If that is the case, try some room darkening shading in the nursery. Try to keep the temperature of the nursery between 65 to 70 degrees. The baby would get comfortable in the temperature.
Put The Baby Down While Awake
Always do your bedtime routine precisely and put the baby down when the baby is feeling drowsy but awake. For the first few days stay next to the baby’s crib for a while and offer the baby some comfortable and soothing touches. If the baby can’t sleep at all without you, you can pick the baby up but don’t forget to put him/her down as soon as he/she stops crying. Stay beside the crib until the baby is sound asleep.
Move The Chair
Use the same technique for days to calm the baby but gradually move the chair further away from the crib for every third night until you are out of his/ her view. It’s important to keep moving away from the baby. If you stay at one particular spot, your baby will get used to the new system knowing that you are there.
Go Back To Your Bed
Within two or three weeks, you should be able to go back to your bed just after putting the baby to sleep just after bedtime. And the baby should be able to go to sleep just after you tucked the baby in into the crib.
Staying Consistent Is The Key
The hardest thing the parents face is the baby’s resistance. The baby can wake up the middle of the night and shed some tears because of the change in sleeping pattern. But you have to let the baby cry to make the training work. If you want to check on your baby, do it constantly rather than waiting for the baby to cry. Comfort the baby without picking him or her up and later from outside the door if you can.
There Is A No-Tear Approach
If you are not open to the idea of leaving your crying baby alone, the no tear approach is the one for you. A soothing environment is ambient for the no-tear approach. If you are trying this method, develop some keyword like a simple shushing sound or some spoken phrases. Always repeat the keywords or phrases whenever you are soothing your child. This will make your baby associate the word or sound with sleeping.