Wondering whether to let baby "cry it out" to help him learn how to fall asleep on his own. Only…

1mo old is not appropriate time to cry it out at all. That's for older kids. But dont worry, things can change a lot just from 1mo to 2mo and he may like the bassinet or being swaddled. I ended up co-sleeping on and off even though I was originally against it. But zip up swaddles helped a lot!

@lea.lea. thank you! I have been reading about it and you are right! He is too young for CIO, but on the other hand they suggest you put him down drowsy but awake and let him soothe himself, which is very close to that, since the baby will most likely start crying. I don't know what to do.

One month old is a bit to young to start sleep training. At that age all they want is to be held and comforted. It’s definitely hard, with no sleep, and being new to it all. But it does get easier. My three month old is finally starting to sleep through the night! Now to get my two year old to sleep all night is the hard part😑

How old is your baby? We have to remember, this is a brand spankin new little human being. He/she has no idea how anything works. All they know is they were all warm and cozy inside of mommy and now they’ve been thrust into the world and they’re just scared and trying to find that safe space again. They need to be held and cuddled. At this age, it isn’t spoiling them. It’s just making them feel safe and secure.

In the begining baby has a hard time adjusting some babies want to be close to mom and wont like to be put down. My youngest is just coming out of this hes 2 months tomorrow. Wait a little while before you try self soothing and crying it out methods baby just needs to be comforted and reasured. My other two were easy they slept in their own beds they would just eat and sleep so its my first time experiencing this.

@kristenmarie thank you Kristen! It makes me happy to hear it does get better. Interesting, I thought 2 year olds slept through the night!

The swing helped me out tremendously with my daughter. I’d let her sleep there or in the rock and play.

@mommynes My baby is almost 2 months. I've wanted to establish good sleeping habits from the start but I've found myself "playing by ear". Thanks for the advice.

I honestly just went with the flow for sleeping. Babies wake and cry for reasons at this age and it’s our job to figure them out and satisfy their needs. Look up the fourth trimester. It will help you understand babies need for closeness. Also 2 year olds don’t always sleep through the night. 🙄 my daughter definitely doesn’t.

@argiemom29, until they’re older like 6 mos they really feed on demand and need a lot. Try to do a eat play sleep rhythm to establish a predictable routine but remember sometimes those things get interrupted by growth spurts and cluster feeding. My second daughter needed me to hold her for what seemed to be forever until she would sleep for months. She had a lot of gas issues too.

Not until she was 11 months or so was she sleeping through the night. Could have even been after 12.

Hang in there mama. Establishing a routine is nice for baby to learn what comes next. That isn’t going to really have an impact until around 6mos tho but you’ll have laid the ground work.

I don’t recommend the CIO method. I only let DD cry for 5 mins and would go in to settle her and comfort her and leave again but increase it 5 mins. Repeat if need be but keep adding 5 mins. Only did this after 7mos or later when I knew she could last longer without feedings

By then you will know her different cries

Even cry it out advocates say do not do it before 6 months. This is a brand new baby. Hold him, hug him, cuddle him. They need more than full bellies and dry diapers. They need touch and comfort, safety and security.

They aren’t birthed grown adults with skills of doing this on their own, they develop by age 5 and our obligation is to support them and give them what they need.

I am not a person who supports cry it out. There is a lot of scientific support as to how detrimental and damaging it is. If you’d like articles I can happily supply them.

@laniejay Sure. Thank you! But what to do to help them learn how to fall asleep when the time comes?

Do you have a bassinet with a vibrations option or a bouncer with one? When my son was that little and had rough nights I'd put him to sleep in his bouncer with the vibrations on and I'd gently bounce it and he'd fall asleep... Some nights I would just leave him in it all night and he'd sleep well, he also had acid reflux so sleeping inclined helped with that. His bassinet had a vibrations button too and I'd turn that on and rock the bassinet and that would help him sleep too. Do you swaddle him at night? I used halo swaddlers for my son and it was like a tight hug all night and it calmed him.

@argiemom29, they will learn on their own. You just be there for their needs and eventually it will fall into place.