Sleep training?

[Ahughes]

So, I've been doing some research on how to sleep train a new baby. Is it possible? We do not plan on co-sleeping and the baby will sleep in a bassinet by our bed. Any mom's out there have tricks or ideas on how to sleep train? I know it is early, but just want to be prepared!! Thanks

 

[greats]

Honestly and in my experience, it's very difficult to sleep train a new born. They have their set schedule of waking up every few hours bc they need to feed often in the beginning to grow. I've read that sleep training rarely works until after 6 months. We didn't successfully sleep train my dd until she was 18 months old. Just throwing that out there bc you can plan as much as you want now but but things change after baby is here. Baby could come out as an awesome sleeper or be super colicky like my daughter.

 

[Ahughes]

Thanks! I have a friend with a 5 month old and she said they started sleep training right away, but she also co-sleeps with her baby. Her baby sleeps through the night without any issues but maybe he is just a good sleeper?

 

[Tristansmom]

It's very rare for newborns to be able to go more than 4-5 hours without feeding - they are growing very fast! Sounds like your friend's baby was one of the exceptions to the rule.

My only suggestion with sleep-training - do what feels right to you. Your gut is definitely more right than other people's opinions - even OH! If letting the baby cry feels wrong to you, don't do it. If picking him up every time he fusses feels wrong to you, don't do that! Trust yourself, mama. You're gonna do awesome.

 

[beckysprayer]

My daughter slept in a bassinet by our bed and this is what worked well for us:

The first two weeks I just fed on demand and went by instinct while I got used to being a mom.

At 2 weeks, we picked a wake up time and a bed time. At the wake up time, we got up to start the day and if little one was still sleeping, I woke her up. These times did change a bit throughout the first couple of months depending on her needs and her nap schedule.

During the day we did eat, play, sleep. I'd wake her up, nurse her, we'd play and hold until nap time and then repeat.

We picked a bedtime and started a bedtime routine early on. Once bedtime hit, there was no more playing or stimulation. If she needed to be held instead of sleep in her bassinet, that was fine but I did it in a dark or low lit and quiet room. When she woke up in the middle of the night it was to change her diaper, nurse her, and right back to bed. No playing at night no matter how awake she was.

My daughter gained weight really well so our doctor said from birth that I could let her sleep 4 hours straight at night if she would before waking her up to feed (she rarely did), by 2 weeks we could let her go 6 hours at night, and by 8 weeks she slept through the night. How often you feed at night really depends on your baby's growth needs, but you can help your little one learn day time is for playing and nighttime is for sleeping.

Good luck! Oh, and don't be discouraged if your baby sleeps all night for a couple weeks and then wakes up regularly for a week or two. This is normal as they grow, just stick to the routine as best you can for their current needs.

 

[Ahughes]

My daughter slept in a bassinet by our bed and this is what worked well for us:

The first two weeks I just fed on demand and went by instinct while I got used to being a mom.

At 2 weeks, we picked a wake up time and a bed time. At the wake up time, we got up to start the day and if little one was still sleeping, I woke her up. These times did change a bit throughout the first couple of months depending on her needs and her nap schedule.

During the day we did eat, play, sleep. I'd wake her up, nurse her, we'd play and hold until nap time and then repeat.

We picked a bedtime and started a bedtime routine early on. Once bedtime hit, there was no more playing or stimulation. If she needed to be held instead of sleep in her bassinet, that was fine but I did it in a dark or low lit and quiet room. When she woke up in the middle of the night it was to change her diaper, nurse her, and right back to bed. No playing at night no matter how awake she was.

My daughter gained weight really well so our doctor said from birth that I could let her sleep 4 hours straight at night if she would before waking her up to feed (she rarely did), by 2 weeks we could let her go 6 hours at night, and by 8 weeks she slept through the night. How often you feed at night really depends on your baby's growth needs, but you can help your little one learn day time is for playing and nighttime is for sleeping.

Good luck! Oh, and don't be discouraged if your baby sleeps all night for a couple weeks and then wakes up regularly for a week or two. This is normal as they grow, just stick to the routine as best you can for their current needs.

Thanks! Very helpful!! I love routines so hopefully my child will take after me on that . Haha. I'm sure motherly instinct will kick in too.

 

[DaisyAnne]

It's such a controversial subject, honestly. I have seen full-blown arguments and insults, etc. on mommy forums over sleep training issues. There are so many opinions/methods/ideas... and they can all be correct according to the baby and family. The bottom line: advice is good, but you will mostly have to wait and see what works for you and your baby. Reading/learning ahead is good to have an arsenal of ideas at the ready, but this will be one of the many cases where it's good to learn to throw away the ideas that just don't work for your baby and you once your little one comes along.

Honestly, many great methods just did not feel right to me when I had my son. For us, I didn't worry about even starting a schedule while he was an infant (a few babies may sleep through the night very early, but most wake up to feed often simply because their bellies can't hold enough yet to stay full for more than a few hours). We didn't start sleep training until after he was a year old, I think it was.

 

[Tristansmom]

It's such a controversial subject, honestly. I have seen full-blown arguments and insults, etc. on mommy forums over sleep training issues. There are so many opinions/methods/ideas... and they can all be correct according to the baby and family. The bottom line: advice is good, but you will mostly have to wait and see what works for you and your baby.

Yes!!! I'm always flabbergasted by the judgy attitude towards personal parenting styles. I mean, we're all in this together, right? Let's just help each other as best we can!

And also, definitely yes to the wait-and-see thing. I had so many "plans" with my first... and all went out the window...!

 

[kikizz]

I think so much of it depends on the baby. Some babies will sleep long amounts at a time right away, but that definitely was not the case with my son. He was up every 2-3 hours no matter what. There also seems to be a difference between breastfeeding and formula feeding, as breastmilk digests quicker and therefore the baby gets hungry sooner.
I read dozen of books on sleep training and nothing really worked until he was about 8 months old.