Ferber method at 9 weeks?

[Anonymous]

My ped gave me some tips on how to sleep train my DS and it sounds exactly like the Ferber method.
Is 9 weeks too early?

[Anonymous]

Way too early!

[Anonymous]

Yes. Way too early. Is this a serious question?

[Anonymous]

Oh my gosh yes...early, wrong, dangerous...Please if you do choose to do this behavior modification on your infant, wait until the suggested 4-6 months of age. Also remember there are other ways to encourage healthy infant sleep and one of them is to nurture your child to sleep via nursing, rocking, snuggling, etc until they are able to put themselves to sleep (this takes longer than sleep training so you have to be patient). I've done this with both of my kids and it's far more pleasant than the idea of them screaming...Good luck and hang in there with the sleep deprivation, we've all been there! Have you read any of the infant sleep books? Dr. Sears and Elizabeth Pantley are good ones.

[Anonymous]

OP here.
yes it is a serious question.

[Anonymous]

Take your pick of articles discussing the dangers of sleep training with CIO even at the suggested age of 4-6 months...

http://www.naturalchild.org/articles/sleeping.html

[Anonymous]

Your baby is barely out the womb! Take it easy, sister! Sleep training at this stage is seriously cruel and heartless! You're smart enough to be on this site asking the question, so please be smart enough to do your research ... and consider finding a new pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

If you don't trust your DOCTOR, I would get a second opinion from another DOCTOR or just change it all together.

Goodluck.

[Anonymous]

I also agree that it is way too early. I'm a big fan of sleep training, and I still say 9 weeks is too early.

The beginning is grueling, but it does end quickly.

[Anonymous]

OP- what issue are you trying to work on - sleeping for longer periods or having baby fall asleep on their own?

I agree 9 weeks is too long to do sleep training to get baby to sleep through night b/c at 9 weeks their tummies are too small to last all night BUT I do think you can do sleep training to get baby to fall asleep on his/her own at this age.

Here's my experience: I have an older DS and newborn twins. With the twins, we laid them down to sleep and "shuush'ed" and patted them from day 1 b/c w/twins there was no way I could do all of the rocking, etc that I did with my older DS to get him to sleep. Unbelievably (to me) the method we used with the twins resulted in much LESS crying than my DS - even though you would think the rocking, etc method is more nuturing. After the first 4 weeks, twins began going down with NO crying. AT 14 weeks they love their bed and are very active/alert/smiling when they are awake b/c they are well rested. They are MUCH happier babies than my older DS who I now realize was overtired for the first 6 months of his life - poor guy!

[Anonymous]

Big fan of Ferber but definitely not this early. 5-6 mos is a much better range. And to clarify, Ferber is not CIO -- it's check-and-console. Ferber does not advocate straight CIO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
yes it is a serious question.

Is it ok to give my infant Doritos? My friend said it was OK

[Anonymous]

OP, everynoe is telling you the same thing, but not the reason. Babies aren't neurologically developed enough for these techniques to work until AT LEAST 4 months.

So, even if you try it (which would be cruel), it will not work. Your pediatrician should have known better.

[Anonymous]

ohhh PP, let's be clear, Ferber IS CIO. Check and console all you want, but you are checking and consoling while they are crying it out. It may not be extinction method CIO..but he advocates not picking up a crying infant. In my book, he's a cold fish.

OP, again, even if you choose this method at 4-6 mos, at 9 weeks, your baby is an extension of you and should be on you and near you at all times. His cries should be answered. It means he needs something. If he needs to be rocked, nursed, nurtured to sleep, you should do it IMO.

You should know that many of us have children who sleep quite well and we never did any form of sleep training per se.

If you do your homework and read up on the different infant sleep philosophies, you and your partner will make the right choice for your baby.

[Anonymous]

Hello OP:
9 weeks is way to early to expect an infant to sleep through the night (7 pm to 7 am) in any kind of CIO method. I'm a HUGE fan, and DS benefitted greatly from it, and he was a nightmare sleeper and was constantly overtired until we did it. We started at 6 months. I've heard the very, very minimum is 16 weeks and 16 pounds, but I preferred to wait, bc it is quite unnerving. Absolutely NO evidence that says the kids are hurt from it, in fact, my pediatrician talked me through how to do it.