Sleep Training an Infant (1 Viewer)

[fred_1_15301]

Does anyone have any tips on sleep training a newborn (my baby is a week and a half young)? Is this even possible at such an early age? Basically he sleeps most of the day but at night it's extremely difficult to get him to sleep in his crib or bassinet. He sleeps fine in my arms but the second I try to put him down, he goes nuts. My wife and I are afraid to let him sleep with us.

 

[meatwad1]

Fill the crib with wet pillows, like a waterbed.

 

[mr roboto]

Yes, you can. I think starting at 2 months. We did it. Sleeping through the night by 4 months. But it's hard to let them cry and some kids don't take to it.

Read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Shot of whiskey with a breast milk chaser usually does the trick.

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Shot of whiskey with a breast milk chaser usually does the trick.

But what about the baby?

 

[meatwad1]

Shot of whiskey with a breast milk chaser usually does the trick.

For you or the kid?

 

[Kal El]

One thing that works, and it sounds horrible, might be to let him cry it out for a few minutes, 5 to 10, tops. If he's still crying, something is up. There are roughly 5 reasons a newborn cries: hunger, dirty diaper, being tired, too hot/cold for their liking, and being in pain. If all of these are not a factor, he should be fine.

 

[Fennis]

tell him to man up.

 

[mr roboto]

One thing that works, and it sounds horrible, might be to let him cry it out for a few minutes, 5 to 10, tops. If he's still crying, something is up. There are roughly 5 reasons a newborn cries: hunger, dirty diaper, being tired, too hot/cold for their liking, and being in pain. If all of these are not a factor, he should be fine.

True. They need to learn to self soothe. And to sleep when put to bed. Basically, the goal is to whittle down the night time feedings. Go from 3 to 2, to 1 to none. Set a schedule, put them down at 8pm, let them cry it out. It sucks to hear as a parent.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Shot of whiskey with a breast milk chaser usually does the trick.

Surprisingly that tasted good!

 

[fred_1_15301]

One thing that works, and it sounds horrible, might be to let him cry it out for a few minutes, 5 to 10, tops. If he's still crying, something is up. There are roughly 5 reasons a newborn cries: hunger, dirty diaper, being tired, too hot/cold for their liking, and being in pain. If all of these are not a factor, he should be fine.

True. They need to learn to self soothe. And to sleep when put to bed. Basically, the goal is to whittle down the night time feedings. Go from 3 to 2, to 1 to none. Set a schedule, put them down at 8pm, let them cry it out. It sucks to hear as a parent.

This dude will cry all night

 

[shadyridr]

1.5 weeks old? Get used to it

 

[shadyridr]

You cant sleep train a newborn dude. Wait until hes AT LEAST 3 months old

 

[mr roboto]

You cant sleep train a newborn dude. Wait until hes AT LEAST 3 months old

We started at 2 months. Worked great.

 

[mr roboto]

One thing that works, and it sounds horrible, might be to let him cry it out for a few minutes, 5 to 10, tops. If he's still crying, something is up. There are roughly 5 reasons a newborn cries: hunger, dirty diaper, being tired, too hot/cold for their liking, and being in pain. If all of these are not a factor, he should be fine.

True. They need to learn to self soothe. And to sleep when put to bed. Basically, the goal is to whittle down the night time feedings. Go from 3 to 2, to 1 to none. Set a schedule, put them down at 8pm, let them cry it out. It sucks to hear as a parent.

This dude will cry all night

No he won't. But he's a bit young right now.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

When we moved our son out of his sideboard sleeping thing and into his own room/crib at 4-5 months we did cry it out. I'm not sure if you can do it that young though.

We weren't hard core about the concept though. We did five mins then checked on him and got him calm again, then stretched to 10, checked/calmed, 20, check, 30 check. We only ever made it to 30 minutes once though. He figured it out after 2-3 nights, but then had to go through a night of crying again periodically when his normal sleep routine got messed up (especially after travel).

Not all kids respond well to it though, so don't be afraid to trust your own judgement if you try it. You know your kid better than anyone else and there's no one-size-fits-all right answer.

ETA: It was rough hearing him cry for 10-20 minutes (can't imagine how the parents with colicky kids survive), but IMO the hardest thing was keeping my wife from responding too early.

 

[fred_1_15301]

You cant sleep train a newborn dude. Wait until hes AT LEAST 3 months old

Ok this is what I thought. Thx

 

[saintfool]

swaddling down?

 

[Clown Car]

The thing to do right now is to wake him at least every three hours during the day. Start when he wakes in the morning, say 7am. Feed him, dress him, whatever, put him to bed in whatever way works for him right now (rocking, swing, sling, etc) then wake him again no later than 10am. Do the same thing. If he wakes before 10am, use that as your new beginning on the 3 hour clock. Do this over and over again all say every say, stopping at around 11pm. He will be sleeping through the night by 8 weeks.

 

[mr roboto]

This will be my last post because this topic can get a bit controversial, but IMO sleep and enough of it is huge. As they grow up they need to have a consistent schedule. Don't let them get overtired. Don't stretch their bedtime to suit someone else's schedule, at least early on. The best thing we did was get our daughters on a schedule. It was inconvenient at times. But they rarely have meltdowns, are fine with going to bed when told to and never mind being alone and playing quietly by themselves. I attribute a lot of that temperament to their sleep schedule.

 

[mr roboto]

You cant sleep train a newborn dude. Wait until hes AT LEAST 3 months old

Ok this is what I thought. Thx

Not true necessarily. Ok, this is the last post.

 

[Mister CIA]

Formula.

KIds were sleeping 6-7 hour stretches at 6 weeks.

ETA: maybe it was 5-6 hours. It seemed like a ####-ton

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Does anyone have any tips on sleep training a newborn (my baby is a week and a half young)? Is this even possible at such an early age? Basically he sleeps most of the day but at night it's extremely difficult to get him to sleep in his crib or bassinet. He sleeps fine in my arms but the second I try to put him down, he goes nuts. My wife and I are afraid to let him sleep with us.

Whatever you do, stick to your guns on this and absolutely do not let him sleep with you.

My wife is an OB/GYN so we hear all the stories about local kids being accidentally suffocated from this.

 

[fred_1_15301]

swaddling down?

We've definitely tried swaddling.

 

[fred_1_15301]

The thing to do right now is to wake him at least every three hours during the day. Start when he wakes in the morning, say 7am. Feed him, dress him, whatever, put him to bed in whatever way works for him right now (rocking, swing, sling, etc) then wake him again no later than 10am. Do the same thing. If he wakes before 10am, use that as your new beginning on the 3 hour clock. Do this over and over again all say every say, stopping at around 11pm. He will be sleeping through the night by 8 weeks.

Nice thanks. We will try this.

 

[fred_1_15301]

This will be my last post because this topic can get a bit controversial, but IMO sleep and enough of it is huge. As they grow up they need to have a consistent schedule. Don't let them get overtired. Don't stretch their bedtime to suit someone else's schedule, at least early on. The best thing we did was get our daughters on a schedule. It was inconvenient at times. But they rarely have meltdowns, are fine with going to bed when told to and never mind being alone and playing quietly by themselves. I attribute a lot of that temperament to their sleep schedule.

Ok thank you

 

[fred_1_15301]

I think I may have just put him to sleep.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

They'll eventually get used to the crate. Pro-Tip: Use a squirt bottle filled with water to correct them.

 

[Clown Car]

The thing to do right now is to wake him at least every three hours during the day. Start when he wakes in the morning, say 7am. Feed him, dress him, whatever, put him to bed in whatever way works for him right now (rocking, swing, sling, etc) then wake him again no later than 10am. Do the same thing. If he wakes before 10am, use that as your new beginning on the 3 hour clock. Do this over and over again all say every say, stopping at around 11pm. He will be sleeping through the night by 8 weeks.

Nice thanks. We will try this.

Then past 11pm don't really play with him. If he wakes, feed change, put back to bed. Don't turn on lights, talk overly much, etc.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Have him watch the Pens/Rangers series, that'll put him to sleep.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Have him watch the Pens/Rangers series, that'll put him to sleep.

It worked for me

 

[ChiefD]

At that age, they still have their days and nights mixed up. When the baby is in the womb, they have no concept of day or night. So when they come out, you either get lucky or you don't.

At some point they figure it out. But at a week and a half, they are just trying to figure out where momma's teat is.

 

[Bucky86]

Crate train.

 

[saintfool]

get the weisbluth book. it's a bit lame on its face but it gets you thinking about it all the right way. something like "happiest baby on the block". i think you are shooting for sleep training at far too early a stage but you need to have a plan and stick with it.

 

[Mad Cow]

Ferber method is fantastic. Cannot remember his book. I think it's called the happiest baby on the block?

 

[Wooderson]

We have 9 month old twins. They sleep great go to be bed at 7:30pm wake at 6:00am.

We started sleep training at 3 months. We would let them cry for 10 minutes then go comfort them. Never would pick them up. Repeat as many times as needed. They were sleeping all night within a week.

Few other tips.

Use a white noise machine.

Use the same routine every bedtime.

Nothing in or around crib that will stimulate them.

My boys also take good naps during the day because they are comfortable in the crib.

Them sleeping all not changed everything for my wife and I. We felt normal again and could enjoy are boys much more.

Edit to add: don't out them in the crib sleeping. For example don't rock them to sleep them put them to bed. They need to learn to fall asleep by themselves in the crib.

Also we from day one had then in the crib in their room. No reason IMO to start them in your room only to have to deal with the transition later.

 

[Wooderson]

Oh and congratulations it's awesome.

 

[Abashail]

swaddling down?

Learn it and love it. At 1.5 weeks he should be either sleeping or eating pretty much all the time anyways. Also good is white noise (just shushing in the ear was enough for us both times).

It gets better. Hated the newborn stage.

 

[Donsmith753]

Sleep training is cruel and has negative effects on a childs brain development. Why you'd want to do that is beyond me?

Every argument I've heard for sleep training seems to come back to the selfish desires of the parents.

Want to read something, start with this:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8dtOC36uxEAC&pg=PT34&lpg=PT34&dq=toddler+calm+the+sleep+training+myth&source=bl&ots=f6fb5ui9Bd&sig=y8yfzDrRFnddCLvTiKB1gkGGCmw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jCLSU-qLFKSI7AbAz4D4Bg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=toddler%20calm%20the%20sleep%20training%20myth&f=false

 

[PatsWillWin]

1.5 weeks old? Get used to it

This.

Oh it's night time? He doesn't give a ####.

It'll get better, but for now, do what works to get him to sleep.

 

[thecatch]

swaddling down?

 

[PatsWillWin]

swaddling down?

Learn it and love it. At 1.5 weeks he should be either sleeping or eating pretty much all the time anyways. Also good is white noise (just shushing in the ear was enough for us both times).

It gets better. Hated the newborn stage.

Same re: swaddling and white noise. He's been sleeping for 9 months in a dark, cramped compartment. Swaddling helps make him feel like he's back in the womb. Both my kids were swaddled for at least a month, I think maybe even 2-3 months.

 

[johnnycakes]

If you're breast feeding, don't expect the kid to sleep through the night, especially at 1½ weeks. You want her to sleep through the night sooner rather than later? Bottle feed. And wait another month or so.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Ferber method is fantastic. Cannot remember his book. I think it's called the happiest baby on the block?

This...the book is called Solve your child's sleep problems. We had both kids sleeping through the night by three months, forget how quickly you can start it though.

http://www.amazon.com/Solve-Your-Childs-Sleep-Problems/dp/0671620991

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Deal with it. I have a four month old that sleeps 10+ hours at night now but the first 3-4 weeks were pure hell. After that she gradually started sleeping better and better. She'll still scream for about 5 minutes before passing out.

 

[the moops]

Whatever you do, stick to your guns on this and absolutely do not let him sleep with you.

My wife is an OB/GYN so we hear all the stories about local kids being accidentally suffocated from this.

All the stories? How many we talking about here?

 

[eoMMan]

You need to swat their bottom and give them a firm "No!".

 

[The Hank]

One thing that works, and it sounds horrible, might be to let him cry it out for a few minutes, 5 to 10, tops. If he's still crying, something is up. There are roughly 5 reasons a newborn cries: hunger, dirty diaper, being tired, too hot/cold for their liking, and being in pain. If all of these are not a factor, he should be fine.

This.

Also, as some have already mentioned, swaddling is

 

[Clown Car]

Sleep training is cruel and has negative effects on a childs brain development. Why you'd want to do that is beyond me?

Every argument I've heard for sleep training seems to come back to the selfish desires of the parents.

Want to read something, start with this:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8dtOC36uxEAC&pg=PT34&lpg=PT34&dq=toddler+calm+the+sleep+training+myth&source=bl&ots=f6fb5ui9Bd&sig=y8yfzDrRFnddCLvTiKB1gkGGCmw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jCLSU-qLFKSI7AbAz4D4Bg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=toddler%20calm%20the%20sleep%20training%20myth&f=false

This is how it gets controversial. It is not cruel to train babies. It is not selfish to want babies to sleep well, early, and often. My belief is that it all has more to do with the personality and expectation of the parents. Some people can't stand to hear a baby cry. I don't even hear it anymore. It is far more important to me for everyone to get good sleep so we can all function at our best during the day. It takes a little time to get there, but not impossible. None of my babies, who were trained with routine and yes some crying it out, have any kind of diminished brain development. They don't lack any ability to love, feel the world is a horrible place, have trust or abandonment issues. If it makes you and your wife happy to do the things you do, great. Everyone wants that for you. But don't accuse others of being cruel because they do it differently than you.

 

[fred_1_15301]

One thing that works, and it sounds horrible, might be to let him cry it out for a few minutes, 5 to 10, tops. If he's still crying, something is up. There are roughly 5 reasons a newborn cries: hunger, dirty diaper, being tired, too hot/cold for their liking, and being in pain. If all of these are not a factor, he should be fine.

This.

Also, as some have already mentioned, swaddling is

swaddling down?

Learn it and love it. At 1.5 weeks he should be either sleeping or eating pretty much all the time anyways. Also good is white noise (just shushing in the ear was enough for us both times).

It gets better. Hated the newborn stage.

I typically will pace back and forth with him for about 30 minutes while rocking him and shushing in his ears. That seems to calm him down and get him to sleep in my arms. Then when I transfer him over to the bassinet/crib, it's about 50/50 whether he actually remains asleep. As others suggested, we've tried swaddling but it just doesn't seem to do much. I'm just thinking that it may be too early to get him on a schedule. Some nights are better than others........