Yesterday’s post on allowing infants to cry it out at night generated some excellent comments. Via Facebook:
This article is so true in my case with my children. I did this for my 2 1/2yr old daughter and she quickly became — and still is — a wonderful sleeper. Once she’s in bed she’s out for hours and hours. Now I’m applying the same sort of thing to my almost 8 week old son. He’s a bit more fussy then I remember my daughter being but last night he ended up sleeping 7 hours straight in his crib! And he didn’t even wake up enough to even cry during all that time. Actually, he didn’t even cry at all. I ended up going and made him a bottle after I finally heard him stirring a bit.
—- From a happy, restful momma. We joke that we love our sleep and therefore, we’ve created a family who loves to sleep. Routine and consistency are key.
Another Facebook reader makes an important point not to push a newborn and young infant too hard:
Important to note the age of the “infant.” Newborns need soothing to help them fall back to sleep, help to be less disorganized, etc. Infants have to be the age to be able to self-soothe.
Another comment:
We followed Dr. Ketyer’s advice and put our son in his crib on the 2nd night home from the hospital. He started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and still does! He will be one year old next month. Sleep is so important and he goes to sleep on his own for naps, too!
It really works. Put your baby to sleep on his back, in his crib, in his own room (if possible) as soon as you can. Slowly, gently push them to sleep longer at night by letting them cry just a little tonight, a little longer tomorrow night, and so on. Keep with your routine and stay consistent!
Update 11/1/16 — According to the AAP’s updated policy statement, “SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment,” the following is now advised:
“It is recommended that infants sleep in the parents’ room, close to the parents’ bed, but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for the first year of life, but at least for the first 6 months.”