Safe to sleep train 7m old with muscular hypertonia?

[Gosia M.]

Dears
A friend of mine has a little girl (7m-old) who is waking up every 15-30min when her parents don't sleep with her (she uses breast as a prop but that's a different story). She has a diagnosed muscular hypertonia and she's being helepd with that. But they wanted to start sleep train her to try to have some time for themselves. Do you think it's safe to do? Maybe it's worth trying with swaddling this little girl and positioning her safely on her back? What else should they consider not to harm their LO?

btw she's now co-sleeping with them but they also consider moving her to her cot in their bedroom (no separate room).

I'd appreciate your POV.

[Kellyjs]

Hi, I have no experience of the condition I'm afraid, but hopefully this post will give you a bump. I'll also ask around to see if anyone is familiar with it xx

[creations]

My DS has hypertonia and hyper mobility. I had no idea when he was a baby and sleep training was smooth, he was sleeping independently by about 8 wks or so (there were of course the usual bumps along the road since that age).  He wasn't diagnosed until he was 3yo which may be that it was just missed by everyone or may be that his hypertonia is less sever. I would say that gentle sleep training the BW way should not pose any risk of health at all but if they are concerned they should check with their health professional before beginning.

I would also add that any form of CC or CIO method is extremely harmful to any baby whether they have hypertonia or not.
My focus would be on the method of sleep training (gentle and respectful BW methods and/or Pantleys no-cry-sleep solution which works very well with BW methods - gradual weaning for the feed-to-sleep prop and to encourage independent sleep) rather than whether or not it is safe to sleep train. When you sleep train gently it is clear there is no harm to baby as you are right there with them throughout the process until LO has the confidence to go it alone, happily, knowing that mummy or daddy will return as soon as they are needed.
hope this helps

[Khalam's Mama]

Do you know why she is waking so often? If she is in pain then this needs sorting first. If she is jerking then a swaddle may help but she is fairly old for that so may break free easily or become distressed if she wants to move. You would also need to consider if she is at risk of getting stiff joints if she is held in one position all night. This would depend on how severe the hypertonia is and what muscles are more affected.
I agree with pp, if the sleep training is gentle there should be no harm but letting her get too upset might exacerbate the high tone so I would consider a gradual withdrawal rather than anything cold turkey.

[Gosia M.]

thank you ladies! your thoughts confirm my thinking to be honest And thanks for the additional things to consider. I also thought about swaddling and some gentle methods. but it might be that her muscles are tensed and after exercises she's more relaxed and sleeps better.

thanks for sharing your thoughts!xx

[Khalam's Mama]

Good luck. Let us know how she gets on.