How to Choose a Sleep Training Method
When most people think of sleep training, the “Cry It Out” (CIO) method is usually the first one that comes to mind. You might be surprised to find out that sleep training is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of interventions used to help your baby learn to fall asleep more independently. Now that THAT’S out of the way, how on earth are you supposed to know which one is right for your family?!
What are sleep training methods?
Because sleep training is a range-there is almost guaranteed to be a method that fits your family’s style if you are in a place to consider it. CIO, or extinction, is the practice of laying your baby in their crib after their bedtime routine and leaving the room to allow them to fall asleep. This is a valid method but not necessarily one that fits everybody’s parenting style. There are varying degrees of separation based methods (CIO, Ferber, etc), then there are methods that allow parents to stay in the room as their baby falls asleep, and some even more gradual that allow you to continue to assist your baby to sleep and fading out that assistance gradually.
How to choose a sleep training method?
The first thing you’d consider is your baby’s age. There are practices you can put in place from day one with your newborn to set them up for good sleep habits. These would not involve any kind of separation based interventions, prior to 4 months old. It mainly involves getting sleep timing right, implementing pre-sleep routines, being curious about what your baby can do with low pressure practice in their sleep space, and pausing before rushing to intervene for every little noise. Around 4+months is the time that many families turn to sleep training largely due to the 4 month sleep regression. At this time it’s considered safe and effective to consider formal sleep training in the form of separation or non separation based methods.
Another thing to consider in choosing a method is how fast you’d like to see results. Research has shown that the more a parent is involved in the child’s process of falling asleep, there is an increased likelihood of the child waking overnight. The level of support given at bedtime is what the child will likely require to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night whether that’s rocking, feeding, or bedsharing. For this reason, the more hands-on training methods may take longer to see results. This might be preferable if you’re wanting to take small steps towards your goal. The quicker methods are the separation based methods, and are more of a “rip the band-aid off” style. These methods will typically see results faster, and may be preferable if you’re in a sleep emergency and really need to get to your goal more quickly.
Your baby’s temperament is another important factor to consider when choosing the method. The 3 main ones that research has identified are easy (flexible), slow to warm up, and difficult (challenging). This blog can help you determine your baby’s temperament. Babies that are easy may naturally fall into a pattern of falling asleep easily and sleeping long stretches without much intervention needed from the parents. They generally adapt well to changes in their routine. Slow to warm babies do well with more gradual or more supportive methods that take small steps with consistency towards the goal of independent sleep.
What sleep training method is best for a strong willed baby?
Strong willed babies typically need consistent and firm boundaries and more hands off methods. Gradual methods for these babies will tend to be more frustrating and met with a lot of resistance from them along the way. Your response to their cries should be very consistent, doing the same thing every time no matter who is doing the responding. With all the temperaments, you need to double check all the timing, environment, and pre-sleep routines.
Which method is best for a toddler?
Toddlers are a different ballgame than infants! They have had plenty of time to develop their likes and dislikes, and have a voice to protest changes, and the stamina to maintain their protests for a lot longer. With all the toddlers I work with, I like to give them ways to work with their toddler and not against them. Be on their team by letting them make some choices when reasonable, create a visual checklist so they know what to expect during the bedtime process, and prep, prep, PREP them in advance for any changes that you intend to implement. Positive reinforcement and consistent boundaries are key.
What is the most effective sleep training method?
This is a trick question. The most effective sleep training method is the one that you can be most consistent with. The method you choose is a small player in the grand scheme of things. Whatever you choose, just make sure you are committed and know your WHY for wanting to make these changes. You and your child are capable of getting better sleep.
Need some extra support along the way? I gotchu!
