Janne wrote:Anyone not sleep train their baby and baby eventually slept through the night?

Hi Janne

We did not sleep train our son -- I believe in following the child, and so far, he has created his own loose schedule which works for all of us.

We coslept until he began to roll over consistently (about 6 months) and then he and I moved into his bedroom to a double mattress on the floor. At this time (and since birth) he was waking every four hours to feed. So one night I decided to try him alone on his mattress, and lo and behold, he slept through 7 hours straight. Now he sleeps though the night 90% of the time (waking only to fuss a little here and there, but he usually finds his pacifier and pops it back in his mouth and falls right back to sleep). What is nice about it was that there was no forcing the issue with him - he is secure and comfortable knowing we are there when he needs us and does not feel abandoned. But he is also sleeping better without me waking him up. Oh! Also we started running a cool humidifier in his room which --white noise of course -- seems to make him sleep much more soundly.

Good luck!

Michelle 

Dr. wrote:

 

Waking up in the middle of the night after 5-6 months becomes out of habit, not out of need.

Although this is mostly true, since this is around the same age infants begin to have emotional reactions to memory, it is also dependant on the individual child. There is new evidence that suggests the importance of infants being near their mothers during the night, and I am glad my son was with us for 6 months and not in his own room. In fact, I am shocked by parents who put their babies in a huge crib in their own room at a few months, or even days old. 

For me personally, it is not about need or habit - if my son needs me in the middle of the night, (which sometimes he does, and sometimes he does not) I will go to him. This is an interesting blog (which, of course, must always be taken with a grain of salt) that is interesting. http://www.conscienceparenting.com/2011/12/29/the-inconvenience-of-having-children/

It is not news that there are so many messed up adults and children in the world, and I believe that much of this stems from how hard we are trying to 'train' our children rather than understanding and respecting their unique needs.

Michelle

Dr. wrote:The same can be said for spoiled children.  I cannot tell you the hoards of parents I have come across that are at their wits end when their 2 year old cannot or refuses to sleep on their own.  It is at that point they say, they wish they "had've..."

Most definitely. I am a teacher and have come across the same thing time and again. It is shocking to me the number of parents who sleep with their children - mom with one child and dad with the other. My son goes to sleep on his own and is happy to be in his own bed. But I will continue to feed him or just go in for a minute if that's what he needs to get through the night without being sad. I think the parents who have children who 'refuse' to sleep on their own are the same ones who cannot say no to their kids in general. (Lots of parents choose the 'family bed' or cosleeping - and this is a completely different idea, and one which I believe works for a lot of people and does not, in fact, create sleep problems later on but in fact the opposite. Most children who are raised being carried all the time, or through attachment parenting etc. become independent, confident and more self-assured at a much earlier age than children who are not).