Sleep Training
What is sleep training?
It is the process of teaching your child to fall asleep independently so that they learn to link each sleep cycle with ease and without crying.
Every baby is different and generally speaking, they need a little help. Some adapt quickly and with ease whereas others need more support along the way which is completely normal. It's no surprise that parents of babies who fall into the latter category often develop "bad" habits, as you will do anything to get your baby to sleep. Sleep training reworks these poor habits to establish new & healthy ones.
As we know babies experience rapid mental and physical changes in the early years and these leaps can cause disruption to their sleep patterns. By teaching them how to fall asleep without your presence, you give them the best chance of getting the crucial sleep they need in those formative years, despite the hurdles.
Sleep training is just one of the elements in the establishment of healthy sleep habits for a baby and should not be looked at in isolation; doing so disregards the full picture and potentially misses the root cause of a sleep issue.
Is sleep training always necessary?
In short, no. Where possible, if you establish healthy sleep foundations in the early weeks & months such as a gentle routine, your child can become so comfortable in their sleep environment that they may learn to fall asleep easily on their own.
More often than not however, a baby or child needs our assistance with sleep.
There are many factors such as a baby or child’s temperament (even a parent’s temperament), their age, current sleep situation and the parent’s response to a sleep issue that determine the need for and the effectiveness of sleep training.
What are the various sleep training approaches?
There are many approaches that teach your baby to fall asleep independently.
Some techniques are classified as more gentle meaning there is more parental involvement or presence whereas others have more of a crying philosophy. It is important to note however that a baby may still cry with a gentler approach even though a parent is soothing or holding their baby.
The most important thing when choosing an appropriate sleep training method is that it is suitable to the child’s temperament and the parent’s values. Once an appropriate sleep training technique has been found, consistency is key.
Does my child’s temperament affect my their sleep?
Temperament has a huge impact on a child’s sleep patterns, their ability to self-regulate and fall asleep independently. Understanding a child’s individual temperament such as their mood, how they naturally react to situations and how persistent they are can help us to dictate how they might respond to certain sleep training approaches. With this information, we can choose a technique that they will respond to best.
Understanding the significance of the interaction of a child’s temperament with sleep training can explain why some babies & children respond very quickly to an approach whereas it may not be effective at all for others. Sadly, parents often blame themselves for not seeing the results they expect, when in actual fact they are just following an approach that does not suit their baby.
Most of the research that has been carried out on sleep training hardly ever considers temperament.
Research on sleep training & common misconceptions
There is a common misconception that sleep training is the cry it out method (also known as extinction). Extinction also happens to be the most researched method which may explain this misconception. Extinction involves placing the baby in their cot, leaving the room and allowing them to cry it out without us re-entering the room. It is the most extreme of all methods referred to above and has the highest tolerance for crying. Personally I could never recommend the extinction method.
Without going into detail on the extensive research that has been carried out on crying methods of sleep training, its effectiveness, and any associated negative side effects, I believe it is very important to be mindful of how we interpret the research.
Researchers get to decide how they are going to measure an outcome, for example what deems it to be “effective” – is this less frequent night wakings, is it a happy mother?
What is effective in research might not be considered effective, practically speaking.
Similarly, in relation to research on the negative side effects, we have to consider how they are measuring harm, how much crying happened in the studies and what the temperament of the children were.
When can I start sleep training?
Once a baby has no underlying medical conditions, generally speaking sleep training methods can be used from 4-6 months of age. Up until this age they are not developmentally capable of self-regulating.
Newborns spend most of their time in deep sleep and only experience 2 stages in their sleep cycles. At about 4 months, their sleep cycles develop into 4 stages (like adult cycles) where they go between deep and light sleep which makes them more likely to wake. This is the reason for the well known 4-month sleep regression, making it a good time to introduce a gentle routine for naps and bedtime if not yet in place.
Conclusion
Immense results can be seen with sleep training methods provided it suits the baby & the parents feel comfortable with it. It could be said that sleep training not only teaches a baby to fall asleep independently but it directly affects the wellbeing of a family.
While some methods do tolerate some level of crying, that does not equate to neglecting a baby. As sleep expert Kim West puts it, you can meet all of your child’s needs without intervening at every hard moment.
The varying methods can be used for young babies through to the toddler years and so it is never too late to start!
If you would like to talk more about a suitable sleep training approach for your child & how I can help, feel free to book a free 15 minute consultation with me.
References:
Mindell, J. A., Kuhn, B., Lewin, D. S., Meltzer, L. J., & Sadeh, A. (2006). ‘Behavioral Treatment of Bedtime Problems and Night Wakings in Infants and Young Children.’ Sleep, vol. 29, no. 10, pp. 1263–1276. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/29.10.1263
Posner, M. I., Rothbart, M. K. (2009). ‘Toward a physical basis of attention and self-regulation.’ Physics of Life Reviews, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 103-120. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1571064509000128?via%3Dihub
