Sleep Training Methods: What is the Best One for My Baby?

Once you have decided that you want to sleep train your baby, the next thing you need to decide is how you will be going about it.

Here are some of the most common sleep training methods:

1. Cry it Out (CIO) for Sleep Training Baby

The cry it out method is considered one of the more harsher methods of sleep training. It is also one of the reasons why sleep training is discouraged because people have the misconception that it is the only way to sleep train your baby. 

In the most extreme form of cry it out, parents leave the baby in the crib (after having fed them, and changing their diapers) and don’t come back to them till the next day. 

This is not recommended by experts and there are gentler variations of the cry-it-out methods which we will discuss below.

2. Ferber Method for Sleep Training Baby

One of the more gentler variations of the CIO method, is the Ferber Method which involves parents checking on baby, without consoling them, at increasingly spaced intervals.

For example, you will first go to check up on the baby after 3 minutes of them crying, then after 5 minutes and then after 10 minutes. 

The next cycle of check up will be increased by 1 minute so it will be 4,6, and 11 minutes and so on.

The purpose of the Ferber Method is to assure baby that an adult is nearby, but you will still reduce your presence in the room gradually. 

By the end of the training, baby will have learned how to self soothe and will be able to sleep on their own.

3. Controlled Crying for Sleep Training Baby

Similar to the Ferber method, controlled crying also involves checking up on baby at spaced intervals. 

But in the controlled crying method, baby will be calmed down during the check in periods. 

4. Chair Method for Sleep Training Baby

With the chair method of sleep training, you will be sitting on the chair near to your baby’s crib but you won’t pick them up.

Each night, the chair should be moved further away from the crib.

This method will not work on babies who cannot put their parents’ faces out of their minds until they are out of sight. 

It also might cause them to be startled, and cry more if they wake up and don’t see an adult nearby.

5. Pick Up, Put Down Method for Sleep Training Baby

The pick up, put down method of sleep training requires a lot of patience. In this method, you will pick up baby whenever they cry, calm them down and put them down to sleep again. 

This is the most gentle version of sleep training, but it might take more time to see results. 

6. Bedtime Fading Method for Sleep Training Baby

This method is ideal for babies who never seem to be tired at their bedtimes, or will cry an extensive amount before falling asleep. 

The bedtime fading method will adjust her circadian rhythm – which is the sleep-wake cycle of the body’s internal clock – to the point where baby falls asleep when you want them to. 

Here is how it will work:

• When baby starts giving the typical sleep cues, i.e. rubbing eyes, yawning, being fussy, etc., you will put them to bed.
• If they start to cry when put to bed, you should take them out of the crib for a set period of time, for example 30 minutes, and then put them back again. 
• The next time you put baby down to sleep, you should move bed time 15 minutes earlier from the previous night and continue the entire process. 
• There will come a time when baby will be sleeping when they are supposed to.