Getting Baby to Sleep

Getting your baby to sleep through the night is one of the most common problems facing new parents. One mother tells how she had problems teaching her son a good routine and Paediatrician Su Laurent, gives her tips for a good night's sleep.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• parenting
• baby
• sleep
• crying
• mum
• mother
• help
• advice

[bhailstone]

This is the Ferber method which is the standard Cry it Out method. It "works" for a lot of kids in that they stop crying and eventually do sleep which is nice for the parents; but psychologically speaking this is referred to as "Learned Helplessness"... meaning they learn that their cries mean nothing, so why bother.

[meljaidanchase]

This is neglect. So sad that people leave their little babies to cry :( You shouldn't have a baby if you aren't going to support their development, and that includes emotional.

[prplepokadotcow]

@MarleighGraceHein It will get better. It really will. I don't think it's easy for any mother to let her child cry, but sometimes it is necessary to let them work it out on their own. It's not something that will come easy to you, but will happen in stages. It may just start out with letting her go for an extra minute at a time or not picking her up every time you go to her. Anytime you need to talk, feel free to drop me a line. <3

[MarleighGraceHein]

@prplepokadotcow thanks(: she still hasn't slept fully through the night yet...which i'm hoping will get better..! she has a habit of crying to get her way and i'm a sucker for just picking her up right away!! that's something i have to stop myself from doing which is quite difficult:P thanks for all your support..<3

[prplepokadotcow]

@MarleighGraceHein I'm sure you'll find something that works for you both soon. You just have to remember to be patient with yourself and her. It takes time. Sometimes my son still has a bad time at night. And I still follow the same routine. I go and check up on him to see what is the matter and give him a chance to put himself back to sleep once the problem (if there's is one) is taken care of. It doesn't happen too much anymore, thank goodness. Just hang in there. :)

[MarleighGraceHein]

@prplepokadotcow thank you very much, i have tried to start a bedtime routine with her but it hasn't worked as well as i would like it to. i hate leaving her after she wakes up in the night...hopefully i'll find something soon...how is your little guy doing?

[prplepokadotcow]

@MarleighGraceHein I have a, now, 5yr old with autism. Starting at 6mths, 5 minutes was the max that I felt comfortable letting him CIO. He really had to be taught to go to sleep & stay asleep. Establishing a bed time routine I found to be very helpful, along with a routine for what I would do when he woke up crying at night. You really just have to try different things to find out what will work best for you and your daughter.

[SleepThroughDawn]

I use gentle techniques to help babies and children to sleep. If you need support to help your baby or child sleep (not controlled crying) then please contact me.

[MarleighGraceHein]

i have a 6 month old with autism.....i havn't let her cry for more than 5 minutes....is that bad???

[galveston]

@puhutes Don't beat yourself up. Is it possible your baby has acid reflux or some pain condition? I would say that 18 months is *not* too soon to try and get him sleep trained, and I'm more of an advocate of attachment parenting. But your son is over a year old. It's time. You have to get some sleep, too.

[puhutes]

Okay, so my baby is now 18 months old and I tried for the first time to put him awake in his crib & stayed with him. he screamed bloody murder for at least an hour while I stayed with him... I tried laying him in my bed and me lying beside him. Still didn't help he was crying from exhaustion until I rocked him to sleep telling him a story. So is 18 months still rushing? He still wakes 10 times a night. How am I supposed to teach him to become a good sleeper if I can't lay him awake?

[XTheNightHowlerX]

Physiologically, a baby's brain is not ready to sleep through the night. It takes some time for brain development and plasticity arrangement for a child to be ready for sleep through the night. This is rushing a child into sleep - and is unacceptable. This pediatrician obviously does not know enough about a child's brain and its development.