Sleep Train At 4 Months Old?
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Anonymous
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I have a 4 month old baby. The first two months he was a dream baby. He slept really well for both night sleep and naps. He woke up a little more and needed less sleep but he was still a good sleeper. Then he hit a month growth spurt and naps started falling off. It became harder to put him down. He started to fight naps. Then the 4 month sleep regression hit and he has been waking up every 1-2 hours during the night instead for the usual 8 hour stretch. His naps went from 1-2 hours to 30-45 minutes. It’s been this way for over a month and I’m exhausted. We spend an hour getting him to go back to sleep, only for him to wake up 30 minutes later.
Our pediatrician said we can sleep train at 4 months but she recommends parents wait until 6 months. My husband thinks we should start now. He is already in his crib and eats plenty during the day. He used to sleep 8pm-4am, then 4:30am - 7am. I really want to start too but I’m a little worried since his pediatrician said she recommends parents wait until 6 months. I’m exhausted and it’s been rough. We both work FT and we have some help. He went from sleeping 15-16 hours in a day to waking up every 1-2 hours ( not to eat) and not sleeping more than 30-45 minutes for naps. Would you wait or sleep train? |
Anonymous
| Sleep train. We used the Ferber method before 4 months old and it worked well. |
Anonymous
| We sleep trained both kids at 4 months. Just go for it. |
Anonymous
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Your sleep and sanity matter. If your pediatrician says it's okay, sleep train.
I waited until 6 months and life was better within days. Kiddo was happier too because good sleep is important for babies too. |
Anonymous
| 4 months and it was the best parenting decision we made. Babies need good quality sleep to thrive. It is cruel to let them be over tired all the time. Took 3 nights. |
Anonymous
| You are going to get a lot of passionate answers here but I am always on the side of science, which says that sleep training at four months is safe and beneficial. |
Anonymous
| Letting your four month old cry it out seems pretty cruel mostly because their sense of object permanence isn’t fully developed until 6+ months old. I would read up on infant developmental psychology before making this choice. |
Anonymous
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We didn’t sleep train until 12 months. Don’t be us.
But 4 months seems early to me but you know your baby best. Go with your gut |
Anonymous
Yeah I was super skeptical of sleep training but reading Emily Oster's section on it in Crib Sheets changed my mind. The science really shows it's beneficial. |
Anonymous
| We loosely started 12 hours by 12 weeks at 8 weeks and our 6 month old has slept through the night since 3.5 months |
Anonymous
No the science doesn’t. |
Anonymous
| It’s not like you can’t change course if the sleep training is going badly. I’m for trying things. Adjust as needed. |
Anonymous
Care to back that up? Personally I'll go with the studies and Richard Ferber who is literally the director of a sleep center at one of the best Children's hospitals in the country. Or do you also have a medical degree with years of speciality in infant sleep? |
Anonymous
No, it's cruel to put your needs ahead of a 4 month old baby's. Why have a baby if you can't take care of them? Did you not realize you would be waking up in the middle of the night? I wouldn't put a four month old through that. I want the best for my children. |
Anonymous
The best for your children is them not waking up every 45 minutes every night. Experts agree! That! Sleep! Training! Is! Good! Unless you are a medical doctor or PhD in infant sleep your! Opinion! Is! Meaningless! |