Teaching Your Baby To Sleep Requires Determination
Has your baby developed the habit of requiring massive attention to get to sleep and stay asleep?
Instead of you getting to lay down and go to sleep you spend half your night in the nursery to keep your baby quiet and sleeping. Controlled crying for babies is one technique you can use to start changing your baby’s habits.
What is controlled crying for babies?
It is exactly as it sounds, you are going to allow your baby to cry under control until they sleep. The real control is going to be for you, and to control your temptation to constantly pickup your baby.
Controlled crying is going to take patience and nerves of steel on your part. Do not worry, you are not abandoning or ignoring your baby, you are simply modifying your method of dealing with the crying and going to sleep.
To start with put your baby to bed like you wish it would work. Make sure they are fed, have a dry diaper, and all the essentials before putting them to bed. Spend a couple minutes with them, and then leave the room. Allow your baby to cry for 15 to 20 minutes before you return to the room. Many times the 15 to 20 minutes is all which is required for them to cry themselves to sleep and start developing new habits.
If the crying has continued, then go into the nursery, place your hands gently on them to cradle them and give them some reassuring shushing, or sing a gentle lullaby to let them know you are there. Resist your urge to pick them up. Spend 2 to 3 minutes with them and then leave the room again.
You are going to repeat the above sequence several times to allow your baby to fall asleep on their own. It takes endurance on your part to make this change. Do not allow yourself to become agitated since your feelings will feed your baby’s agitation, too. You are being a good parent helping them learn how to sleep properly. Your baby is safe, healthy, and not being harmed by this method. Baby doctors and psychologists often recommend this technique to help modify a baby’s behavior.
If the crying has not stopped after 3 to 4 sequences then check your baby again for a dry diaper, feed them if needed, and give them a few minutes of attention. Then start the sequence over again.
Rest assured controlled crying for babies is much harder on you than it is on your baby. You will be the one with the truly agitated feelings, not your baby. It may take a few days to a couple weeks of practicing this technique for changes to occur, be patient with yourself. You will survive these few days. The benefits of your baby learning to sleep quietly without excess attention will be your reward, one loved by both you and your baby.
