Pediatrician suggested to wait until six months???

[Ericsmom]

Hi all,

We just had our four month appointment and I told my pediatrician that I was thinking about starting to sleep train.  I have a very spirited boy who needs white noise super loud and our bouncing to fall asleep.  The doc said he usually suggests waiting until kids are six months before doing any sleep training.  I THINK his reasoning is things are still developing for them so much that it's just easier to wait until all the kinks get worked out.  I was just wondering does anyone else have any thoughts on this?  Has anyone started with a six or seven month kid and had a relatively easy time?  I am absolutely dreading training my son.  I just know it's going to be a horrible experience.  Right now my son still gets a lot of gas and will wake up because he has to fart.  I'm breastfeeding and can't figure out if it's anything in my diet.  But I think it will be easier for us when those episodes stop. 

Any thoughts on the age issue?

[jswerczek]

Hi Ericsmom- I don't see why you need to wait. We started sleep training with ds from the start. Tracy suggests different ways to sleep train depended on the babies age, but I do not think it will be easier to wait until the six or seventh month. Check out the sleep interview that is at the top of this forum, there are a lot of ideas in there about sleep training and certain steps to take depending on the babies age. Honestly, I am glad we did it early because now the worst is behind us and we have a 6.5 mo. old that sleeps pretty close to perfect.

My ds also had horrible gas pains at that age just now they do work themselves out and stop bothering them very soon.

Hope that helps!

[jmcinnes]

Hi-  The sooner the better when it comes to training babies not to be prop dependent and to sleep independently.  The longer you wait the more time it will take to fix all the accidental parenting your little one has become reliant on.  If it were me, I would start tomorrow. 

My plan was to implement E.A.S.Y. from the time my daughter came home from the hospital.  Well, breastfeeding was a nightmare and I could never get a routine going.  So, at 5 plus months old, when she was still waking 1-3 times a night, taking short naps, and not being able to fall asleep on her own, I decided I better do something.

It won't be easy, but it will be so much harder later.  Good luck!

[Jaime]

IMHO, doctore who advise waiting to sleep train until 6 months are more likely advocates of CIO, and i couldn't disagree more with them!   :wink:

you've received excellent advice so far - just wanted to pop in a word about the gassiness.  i found that giving my lo's gas drops before the feed and then holding them upright for about 10 minutes after a feed worked wonders.  just a thought!   

[Wilsmon]

I am wondering if he suggested waiting until 6 mos b/c that is generally when most experts target as the age it is ok to night wean?  We didn't really totally wait until 6 1/2 to start training but this is when I decided to night wean and get "really" serious.  But all along we were always working on helping to self sooth.  We ran into the pacifier issue and decided not to wean but help him find it on his own at night.  This is also why it took us until 6.5 months to really get serious.

But I agree, you can be doing alot all along towards helping them sleep better.