this is a question that frequently gets asked and there are so many different answers given by specific sleep doulas, sleep books, etc. that it often makes it difficult to know what the ‘right’ answer is. i have read many sleep training books and the majority of them say somewhere between 4-6 months. i, on the other hand, say you can do it earlier than this. you know your baby better than anyone else. you know if they are playing games in the night. if they are truly hungry and eating or just looking for your attention. that being said i say you usually have a good mother’s gut feeling when you think your baby is ready to begin.
i started at 10 weeks with my first and had him sleeping 14 hours straight by 16 weeks. i slowly took away the 1-2 night feeds as the process went on. as for my second i did small things from week 2 to help create good habits. this way i wasn’t forced to break all the bad habits i had created when sleep training time approached. my second was sleeping 14 hours by 11 weeks. he was a tiny baby of only 9 lbs. but got lots and lots of calories during the day. you have to be sure you are feeding enough during the day if you plan to stop night feeds. i re-assure myself that i am doing this by waking my infant (from birth) every 2-3 hours to feed! this is the best option like i mentioned before and also helps to sort out their days and nights.
you don’t have to wait until the 4-6 month mark to begin, but you can. this is entirely up to you and how ready you feel your child is. if you do get to the 6 month mark your child should not need to be eating in the night. if you are still feeding in the night i would suggest starting a sleep training method so you can all start to catch your zzz’s! you need to train them to sleep properly and now (at 6 months) is the time. no need to wait any longer.
please contact me by clicking “request a sleep consult” and lets start getting your little one to sleep today!