Sleep Training

Baby A is now week 8 and according to research, her biological rhythm should be kicking in. I reckon this be a good time to sleep train Baby A.

I revisited an e-book that I had - The no cry sleep solution

Currently, Baby A naps in a spring cot in the afternoon and co-sleep with us at night. She sleeps pretty well in the spring cot and at night she wakes up about 2-3 times and I nurse her back to sleep.

Two things that I  need to quickly work on for her night sleeps:
1) Her need to be rocked/carried to sleep
2) Her need to be nursed to sleep

My End Goal: That Baby A will learn how to go back to sleep on her own during the brief awakenings.

Here are my gold nuggets of information:

"Therefore, if you want your baby to be able to fall asleep without your help, it is essential that you sometimes let your newborn baby suck until she is sleepy, but not totally asleep. As often as you can, remove the breast and let her finish falling asleep without something in her mouth. When you do this, your baby may resist, root and fuss to regain the nipple. It's perfectly OK to give her back the breast, bottle or pacifier and start over a few minutes later. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. if you do this often enough, she will eventually learn how to fall asleep without sucking."

"The next step in this plan is to try putting your baby in is bed when he is sleepy instead of sleeping. A tired new born, too young yet to have ingrained habits, will often accept being put into his crib or cradle while still awake, where he will then fall asleep on his own. When you try implementing this idea, sometimes your baby will go to sleep, and sometimes he won't. When your baby doesn't settle and fusses instead, you can rock, pat, or even pick him up and give him back the breast, bottle, or pacifier and start over either in a few minutes or for his next nap."

I like these very gentle methods compared to those that suggested leaving baby to cry in the cot. I have opted not to do this. Not even for 1 minute. This may be a quicker solution and the method suggested above may take time, and alot of patience. But, these gentler methods will take me a long way. Baby A will learn to associate sleeping as a peaceful event, something that she does not need to detest.

Follow me on my sleep training log here.

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