6 Sleep-training tips I should've followed.

6 Great Sleep-Training Tips, from a Mom Who Didn't Do It Right.

 I believe that there's a science behind many things. Children are so unpredictable but I'm absolutely certain that there's a science behind them too.

My son, for as long as he's been alive, has had problems sleeping through the night. And I'm sure there are mothers out there saying that I should have sleep-trained him from a young age. I'm aware that I should have. And I tried. 

Sleep training a baby is so difficult if you don't want to disturb anyone else who resides in your home. Of course, I've tried. Although,  my son has yet to be responsive to any method we have tried.

He still, to this day, sleeps like he's having a terrible nightmare every time he falls asleep.

I've tried so many things: the cry-it-out method, the chair method and the Ferber method. I've tried keeping him awake and ensuring he's very exhausted when he goes to sleep. Nothing has worked.

I've asked my friends who have children what they've done and the response has always been that they wait. Their kids eventually fall asleep on their own and with that, sleep through the night. Now I know that this might sound very impatient of me but when will that happen for me?

So to help others learn from my horrible mistakes, here are some tips on what not to do when your child is struggling to sleep through the night:

1. Don't change the bedtime routine 

My son has had the most messy bedtime routines. I've changed it so many times I can't even keep count. The only consistent thing I do is to bathe him at exactly 6pm. When he was younger, I fed him before bathtime and now I do it after. I've made a mess and I know it.

2. Phase out the pacifier 

The pacifier has been the go-to thing for my partner and me. We depend on it to help our son to stop crying at night and he has become so attached to the thing. He can't sleep without it. I'm planning on starting to phase the pacifier out as soon as I can introduce my baby to a more convenient self-soothing method. 

3. Use white noise

I didn't. Since he was a newborn my son has not really had any winding down rituals. I bathe him, feed him prop his pacifier in his mouth and rock him or hold him until he falls asleep. I was so terribly wrong about that. White noise has helped my son fall asleep so much faster these past few months, it calms him and ensures that I don't have to hold him when he's falling asleep. It really sets a great tone for sleeping, and since my son loves music, I wish I had done it sooner.

4.  Find which sleep training method works for your baby

Although it's difficult to hear your child cry and not do anything about it, the cry-it-out method has been proven to be the best and fastest way to get a child to sleep on their own and longer. They develop a self-soothing method and it helps them to stay asleep through the night. Unfortunately, playing with my ears has been my little one's most effective self-soothing method. 

5. Don't allow screens after bathtime 

As a student, I'm always checking my emails and reading messages from lectures or other students on our WhatsApp groups. Unfortunately, one of the only times I have to check messages would be when trying to get my son down for bedtime. The blue light is not good for kids and frankly, my phone is very distracting to my son. He forgets that he's tired and just wants to touch my screen. 

  6. Don't forget to clear the sleeping space 

My son sleeps in his crib at night. At times during the day, I place him in it when I need to run to the bathroom or do something quick in the kitchen. I often give him a toy to play with but it has gotten quite inconvenient when I need to put him down. I advise cleaning the space your child sleeps in before bathtime, that way, you won't have to any time close to when they fall asleep.

I think children are unpredictable but you can always figure out a routine or something specific to ensure that your child does what you want. 

I hope this advice was helpful and if anyone has any tips or tricks. Feel free to share tips and tricks that you found that work with your baby.

Live. Love. Grow