The need to sleep train a baby comes from different things. Have you been co-sleeping and need them in their own bed? Maybe they need a bottle or the breast to fall asleep and you’re ready for them to kick the habit? Perhaps that cutie HAS been sleeping well and just started waking up frequently again? Some babies can sleep through the night coming home from the hospital. I never had one of those babies…and whenever I wonder why my baby keeps waking up, or why they just cry instead of konk out, I mentally go down the list:

Is he hungry? Is he hot or cold? Is he feverish or stuffed up? Is he teething? Is his diaper still clean? Does he have a diaper rash? Is he simply not tired because of a late nap? Is he scared of something? Is there enough light in the room? Does he have a tag on his clothes tickling him or scratching him?

You wouldn’t believe the things I find like dried bread crust down the onesie or a small piece of candy stuck to the back of her hair under her head, or a soiled diaper right after I changed him with a magical instant diaper rash to go along with it. Make sure your baby is well fed, clean diaper, comfy clothes,  has proper medication and humidifier for coughing or stuffy nose, teething or fever, and has nothing possible to be scared about. My favorite night light is a small touch lamp on the lowest setting.

When my first was 8 months old I was utterly exhausted with him sucking to sleep then screaming awake every half hour only to need to suck to sleep again. I new he was not hungry and he wouldn’t take a pacifier-only the breast. It was infuriating and I was always tired. I had to figure something out! So I researched different techniques and read others’ experiences and ended up having to let him cry to sleep in his crib for 3 nights so that he learned to put himself to sleep. I would go in every five minutes at first to tell him it’s ok I love you time for bed go to sleep. I wouldn’t stay in there for more than 30 seconds before I would leave again and I wouldn’t pick him up. After a while I went in every ten minutes if he was still crying, then every 15 minutes. It is very hard because you don’t want to let your baby cry but none of the no cry methods worked for him and I desperately needed sleep and to stop my frustration with him. I know this is not for everyone and I never thought I would let my baby cry but I was at the end of my rope and desperate. If you decide to try something like this, make sure it is when your baby is not sick. My last two babies have gone to sleep better with a very soft blanket or small stuffed animal.

My 3rd child got hysterical when I tried to sleep train her and I ended up sleeping by her crib, refusing to let her suck to sleep. She still cried a ton but I knew she wasn’t scared with me there. I co-slept a lot with her but once she fell off the bed at 6 months old that was it and she needed to learn to sleep in her crib.

So what do I do when they wake up in the night during sleep training? I always immediately go to them. If it has been a few hours they may be hungry anyway for a bottle. If you are trying to wean night feedings you can either do half milk half water or give them a half bottle of milk and just lower it from there. If your baby’s body is used to getting a bottle in the night then your baby really will wake up hungry.

NOW, if your baby was sleeping well in the night and recently decided to get up again, that’s pretty different but the problem needs to be fixed within two nights or it will become habitual for your baby to get up frequently again and WE DON’T WANT THAT, RIGHT?! The first possibility is that your baby is falling asleep somewhere other than where they wake up in the night. Whenever this happened around here, every one of my babies had a rough sleep the rest of the night. Make sure your baby falls asleep where they will be the rest of the night. The hardest part of this for me was them falling asleep in the car seat-SO TEMPTING to just carry them in in the car seat and let them sleep their for the night. BUT not only could it lead to a rough night but it also contributes to a flat spot forming on your baby’s skull.

Another issue is make sure your baby isn’t scared and has enough light. My 6 yr old can talk YAY so he can tell me if he is scared and why. Last time he was scared was because the lights of cars going by in the night cast weird moving shadows through his blinds at night-easy fix-curtains! It’s so nice when they can communicate haha! However babies can’t do that so it ends up being a guessing game. Think of the basic reasons for being scared-weird sound, weird shadows, too dark, etc.

The third problem could be eating patterns. Sometimes they hit a growth spurt and just want to feed night and day all of a sudden, and that’s normal to a certain extent. There is no test that can confirm a growth spurt so make sure they are getting enough to eat in the day, just in case they are trying to compensate at night. Once they are more awake in the day it gets harder for me to get my baby to eat-he just wants to stare around and see what’s going on! If you can, find a quiet spot to feed so he or she can be more focused on the task! I know, I know, easier said than done, but it’s worth the effort so you get your sleep, right? Comment below if you have any further knowledge to share with us!