What Is the Best Age to Sleep Train a Baby?
"All healthy babies can sleep through the night when given the right tools to do so."
Many experts recommend starting sleep training when babies are 4-6 months old. By 4 months old, as long as babies are healthy and weighing at least 12-13 pounds, they can usually learn to sleep 11-12 hours at night without a feeding. Between 4-6 months old, babies transition from the newborn sleep cycle to a mature sleep cycle. Many parents notice increased interruption to sleep during this developmental milestone. This is an ideal time to teach babies new habits for a healthy sleep foundation.
However, parents can sleep train their babies at any age, whether younger or older than this recommendation. First, let's discuss newborns. Do parents of newborns have to suffer sleep deprivation for the first 4 months of their baby’s life? Absolutely not.
Newborns: How to Get Newborns to Sleep Longer
Although most babies need a feeding during the night until they are at least 3 months old, newborns that are healthy and gaining weight appropriately can follow age-appropriate day and night schedules that promote significantly longer stretches of sleep at night.
With full feedings, the ideal sleep environment, the proper daytime schedule, and an effective bedtime routine, healthy newborns at least 4-12 weeks old can sleep 5-9 hours (depending on age) before waking up to eat. When the right age-appropriate schedule and an effective feeding plan are used, newborns can thrive off of only one strategically-placed feeding during the night.
How to Keep Babies Drowsy after Night Feedings
Middle-of-the-night feedings should always be done with as little stimulation to the baby as possible. The goal is for babies to remain drowsy enough to fall immediately back to sleep after the feeding. Here are some tips:
Keep the room dark, using only a night light for feedings.
Stay quiet and keep feeding time as boring as possible.
Don’t change diapers during the night unless there is poop in it or unless the baby’s clothes are wet.
Remain in the same environment: Don’t take the baby into a different location to feed.
If parents are bottle-feeding, make sure the bottle is already warm and ready: Cold milk can cause babies to become more alert.
Can Newborns Self-Soothe?
Some sources say that newborns cannot be taught self-soothing, but that is just not factual. Newborns that are healthy and gaining weight appropriately can absolutely learn self-soothing as young as 2 weeks old. Parents should use gentle methods with the guidance of an expert in order to teach their newborn to sleep well and long through the night. It is typically faster to teach a newborn to self-soothe than an older infant. But, of course, temperament plays a role.
Self-soothing helps babies fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Any healthy baby can learn to self-soothe if parents consistently apply an effective strategy.
What to Expect When Sleep Training Older Babies
You can begin sleep training a baby at any age. Every healthy baby can learn to self-soothe and sleep independently through the night. But older babies tend to protest longer than younger infants because they have practiced poor sleeping habits for a longer period of time.
Babies love routines, but they hate change. Therefore, protest should be expected until babies grow to love their new routine.
Some babies cry louder and longer than others in the sleep training process, but they all can learn. Is your baby generally calm and easy-going or determined and persistent? Temperament certainly plays a role in the length and difficulty of the process.
Is Baby Standing in the Crib?
When babies develop increased mobility, learning to stand and to walk, they will often stand in their crib as they protest falling asleep. That is perfectly fine and will not thwart the process. Parents should make sure, however, that the crib mattress is fully lowered so that the baby cannot jump out of it in protest.
If parents are using a leave and check method of sleep training, they should lay their baby down on his back before leaving the room and do their best to calm him without picking him up. Babies will likely stand up again after parents have laid them down. But they can lay back down just as easily as they stood up. Therefore, parents should not feel pressure to lay their baby down every time she stands up.
