Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
132
How to Choose a Sleep Solution
May 22, 2023

Found in age groups

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

5th Edition: 
A Step-by-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep

Buy now

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

5th Edition: 
Chapter 1 (only 16 pages!) outlines everything you need to know about your child's sleep.

Buy now

Introduction

A Healthy Child Needs a Healthy Brain, A Healthy Brain Needs Healthy Sleep

Sleep solutions work (Blog Post 133) but it may be difficult for sleep-deprived parents to start a sleep solution (Blog Post 23).  Here is a menu of sleep solutions that may help you choose the one that best fits the specific circumstances of your family (Blog Posts 14 and 26). 

Blog 132How to Choose a Sleep Solution

A. One way to think about different sleep solutions and help you choose one is to organize them into three groups as described in Blog Posts 19 and 25 and in more detail in my book: 

  • 1 “No-cry” sleep solutions for babies Teach Self-Soothing 

Many hands: involve others, not just mother to soothe to sleep; get father on board! 

Drowsy but awake when put down to sleep 

Many naps: expect and accept many brief and irregular naps in infancy.

Move bedtime slightly earlier based on drowsy signs

Fade Procedure

Check and console
Bedtime routines 

Motionless sleep
Sleep log
Sound machine, room-darkening curtains

Positive routines plus faded bedtime with response cost 

Scheduled awakening

Control the wake-up time 

Relaxation training 

Stimulus control

  • 2 “Maybe-cry” sleep solutions 

Move bedtime much earlier
Nap drill
Parent-set bedtimes, regular bedtimes, earlier bedtimes 

Swings
Crib tent
Sleep Rules and silent return to sleep
Pass system
Day correction of bedtime problems 

  • 3 “Let-cry” sleep solutions


Extinction: with or without cap, with or without parent presence 

Graduated extinction 

B. Here is another way to think about choosing a sleep solution partially based on two parenting styles: 

  1. ‘Limit Setting’ parenting style: You are comfortable with soothing your baby to drowsy but awake state; then, putting baby down in crib and leaving the room. 
  • If you practice limit setting and neither parent has anxiety or depression symptoms, choose extinction. 
  • If you practice limit setting and either parent has anxiety or depression symptoms, choose graduated extinction. 
  • If you practice limit setting and both parents have anxiety or depression symptoms, choose check and console or fading.
  1. ‘Infant Demand’ parenting style: You always want to hold your baby, sleep with your baby, or stay with your baby until baby is in a deep sleep. 
  • If you practice infant demand, choose fading or other no-cry sleep solutions. 

More information about sleep solutions and baby sleep advice::

When to start sleep solutions (Blog Posts 49, 57, 67, 102107, and 115)?

Do sleep solutions harm your child (Blog Posts 24 and 71)?

Community sleep consultants (Blog Post 27).

Do sleep solutions really work (Blog Post 133)?

Comments

  1. Thank you for this thoughtful guidance on sleep solutions, Dr. Weissbluth. We may have chosen the wrong option. We did CIO for our 5 month old and though she started sleeping through the night, she often cries so hard that it tears at me and brings me close to a breaking point (I have some postpartum anxiety). Based on your book, we started nap training to correct what we believed was overtiredness. We are on day 5 of nap training (and day 16 of night sleep training), and there have only been a few put downs with no tears. Most days her naps are just 30-40 minutes long, and last night she started to get up frequently with crying over 10 minutes, so last night and tonight we tried early bedtime of 5:30pm. She slept after 30min of crying, but then woke up 35min later with screams and cries. It’s been 30 minutes of that and I’m at my wit’s end! I would very much appreciate your advice. Should we go back to a non-CIO method? Is it that we need to keep going for 4-5 more days to see if it works?

    Baby’s schedule yesterday (it has varied but we look for drowsy signs and never exceed wake window)
    5:00am Awake (6:30am out of crib)
    8:00am Put down for Nap 1 (8:20am Asleep)
    9:00am Awake (9am-10:30am was a long nursing session with some rest at breast)
    11:50am Put down for Nap 2 (12:01pm Asleep)
    12:40pm Awake
    2:42pm Put down for Nap 3 (2:55pm Asleep)
    3:40pm Awake
    5:26pm Put down for early bedtime
    6:10pm Asleep
    *** woke up crying throughout night; at 10:50pm changed poopy diaper and gave night feed)***
    5:00am Wake up & Feed, then put down again,
    6:30am Out of Crib

    1. “On day 16 of night sleep training…last night and tonight we tried early bedtime of 5:30pm.”
      During the past 15 nights, what was the range of the bedtimes? What was the most common bedtime?

  2. The first 14 days, bedtime ranged between 7pm – 8:30pm.

    There was only one really good nap day (day 14), so we are studying that schedule closely. Here is what schedule looked like that day & night before fyi.

    Day 13 (night) – Day 14
    6;15pm put down in crib
    7:05pm ASLEEP
    5:00am Woke up (unusually early wake up, the days prior wake-up was between 6am-7:30am, but this morning the electricity went out, and when it turned on, the beeps & sound machines woke baby)
    — Fed baby after 1 hour of crying and 5:30am Put back in crib (she slept until 7:30am)

    DAY 14
    7:30am Out of Crib
    8:46am Put down for Nap 1 (no cries!)
    9:00am ASLEEP (50min)
    9:50am Awake
    11:28am Put down for for Nap 2
    11:47am ASLEEP (50min of sleep, brief wake period of 10min with no crying, then 80min more of sleep)
    2:05pm Awake
    3:39pm Put down for Nap 3, cried for a bit after rolling on tummy (skill she learned that day), we rolled her back after awhile
    4:13pm ASLEEP (70min of sleep)
    5:25pm Awake (woke her up to not interfere with bedtime)
    7:25pm Put down (only 1 min of cries!)
    7:40pm ASLEEP —– next morning she woke up again at 5:00am and I waited until 6:30am to take her out of crib (this goes into the DAY 15 schedule I posted previously, and the start of the horrible nights & naps)

    Many, many thanks, Dr. Weissbluth! Grateful for your response.

  3. For what it’s worth, last night after the second time we put her down at 5:30pm, she woke again all night almost every hour it seemed and cried. I gave her one night feed around 10pm, but noticed she didn’t fully drain and was falling asleep, leading me to believe she isn’t hungry for overnight feeds (my pediatrician said at 15lbs, more than double her birth weight she should be able to go 12 hours). I took her out of the crib at 6:30am, though she woke at 5:00am and eventually put herself back to sleep – I was so exhausted that I fell asleep instead of seeing if she wanted another feed.

  4. So sorry, I didn’t answer your second question. Most common bedtime first 14 days = 7:30pm. (8pm bedtime was a close second)

    1. Please read the section on Extinction in my book to understand why the too late bedtime for the past 14 days prevented improvement.
      Because of her age (5 months), I would simultaneously work on day sleep and night sleep.
      Strive for a mid-morning nap, a midday nap, and if needed a third nap. But no nap starts after 3pm. The bedtime will be temporarily super early based on drowsy signs and it will vary because of variability in naps. Expect the bedtime to temporarily be in the range of 5:30-6:30pm. Be strict with this schedule and keep a careful record for 4-5 days and let me know how it goes.
      Does this help?

  5. Thank you so much, Dr. Weissbluth, for the clear advice. The extinction chapter was helpful – especially the section on nap drills. All this time I had been assuming naps have been horrible because they have only been between 30-40 minutes, but now I can see that its’ progress! Especially since before she had never napped on her own. It’s good to know napping past 3pm might also be interfering with the early bedtime. Does this mean no sleeping at all past 3pm, so if she falls asleep 2:45pm we should wake her at 3pm?

    We’ve been eager to implement your recommended plan. Today she went down for her mid-morning nap easily and is still sleeping. Will keep you posted how the next few days go.

    1. “Does this mean no sleeping at all past 3pm, so if she falls asleep 2:45pm we should wake her at 3pm?” No.
      If she begins a nap before 3pm, let her sleep as long as she wants. This afternoon nap might be brief or long so the bedtime is not rigidly fixed. Watch for drowsy signs for the bedtime because she might nap from 2:45pm to 3:45p and still get drowsy at 4:45 and need a 5:30pm fall asleep time. The reason I would not suggest a fall asleep time before 5:30pm is that it may be associated with a way too early wake-up time in the morning so that she really can’t get to a 9am biologic circadian nap time.
      Remember: The soothing bedtime routine can begin whenever you wish, the 5:30 time is when it is over and you are leaving the room hoping that she will fall asleep; You do not begin the bedtime routine at 5:30pm if she is drowsy before then.
      Does this help?

Add comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related blogs

These blogs are related or mentioned in this blog.
14
Blog 14
  | February 15, 2021
 | No Comments

Be Flexible

Parents would like to have a plan that guarantees healthy sleep for their child, like a tested recipe guarantees a sweet cupcake. Unfortunately, there is not one plan that fits all families. The principles discussed in Blog Posts 1 through 13 have to be adapted to specific individual, cultural, and family circumstances, or what the Army calls “mission constraints.”
Read full post
19
Blog 19
  | March 22, 2021
 | No Comments

‘No-cry’ Sleep Solutions: Fading & Check and Console (Sleep Solutions #1)

All the items listed in “WHAT A PARENT CAN DO” contribute to the prevention of sleep problems developing in the first place; the earlier you start, the more likely your success. All of these same items also contribute to the treatment of sleep problems, but they might not be sufficient.
Read full post
23
Blog 23
  | April 19, 2021
 | No Comments

How to Motivate a Parent

Mothers spend more time at night caring for their child than fathers. Some mothers do all the bedtime and overnight care in order to protect the father’s sleep in order for him to work during the day, or they believe that the father cannot do this care as well as they do, or the father does not want to help care for the child at bedtime or overnight.
Read full post
24
Blog 24
  | April 26, 2021
 | 8 Comments

Help or Harm (Sleep Solutions #2)

Question: Do I harm my child if I allow my child to have unhealthy sleep? Answer: Yes. According to the United States of America Department of the Army based on empirical data using traditional scientific methods: Unhealthy sleep is unhealthy for the brain.
Read full post
25
Blog 25
  | May 3, 2021
 | 44 Comments

‘Let Cry’ Sleep Solutions: Graduated Extinction & Extinction (Sleep Solutions #3)

Because of differences in specific family circumstances and individual differences among babies, it is difficult to give specific advice regarding which method best suits a particular family. Two safe and effective treatment strategies that do not involve letting your child cry are ‘Fading’ and ‘Check and Console’.
Read full post
26
Blog 26
  | May 10, 2021
 | No Comments

Compare Different Sleep Solutions (Sleep Solutions #4)

Real life events will occasionally disrupt your child’s sleep and cause a sleep debt to occur. A reset is an extremely early bedtime (for example, 5:30 PM) that is strictly enforced (Extinction) for only one night to pay back a sleep debt.
Read full post
27
Blog 27
  | May 17, 2021
 | No Comments

Community Sleep Consultants (Sleep Solutions #5)

Investigating the training program founder’s background, along with the training program’s course content, assessment methods, and recertification requirements might help in choosing a “certified” sleep consultant.
Read full post
49
Blog 49
  | October 18, 2021
 | 10 Comments

“Sleep Training”: When to Start

“Sleep training” is the term I eventually coined to describe the variety of ways that I taught parents how they might help their child sleep better.
Read full post
57
Blog 57
  | December 13, 2021
 | No Comments

Start Early to Help Your Child Sleep Well

Here is a 2021 research paper to illustrate why I think parents should put forth an effort to help their child sleep better as early as possible.
Read full post
67
Blog 67
  | February 21, 2022
 | 81 Comments

When to Start Sleep Training, #2

Read full post

Stay updated with new blog posts

Get access to free lullabies when signing up!
Get notified when new blogs are posted
Loading
Notify me
About Marc
The first month
The second month
Months 3-4
Months 4-12
magnifiercrossarrow-left
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram