People have mixed feelings about sleep training their baby, just like with most parenting techniques. It’s either you’re a huge advocate or completely against it. However, if you have no idea what sleep training is, you can easily get confused by the many opinions of outsiders. Babies need ample sleep, and it’s up to the parents to ensure they get the required amount of sleep.
For the first year of their life, they need approximately 9 to 12 hours of sleep which contributes to their overall well-being. Unfortunately, they can’t seem to sleep for 12 hours continuously instead, they sleep in spurts both during the day and at night. These spurts can cause irregular sleep patterns if they don’t develop internal body clocks. As a parent, you can develop your baby’s body clock by sleep training them. There are lots of benefits of sleep training your baby. However, it’s necessary to be aware of the good side and bad sides before trying this technique. Here are some pros and cons of sleep training.
Pros
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Learns To Self Soothe
It’s important to note that if you choose to sleep train your child, you should start at 6 months. This is when they’re old enough to pick up skills such as sleeping independently. They can also learn to self-soothe easily at this age since they haven’t gotten used to you rocking them to sleep.
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Stops Bad Habits
The first year of raising a child is one of the most crucial periods that sets the pace for the coming years. This is an opportunity for parents to form good habits and stop the bad ones. Developing good sleeping habits during this period can in turn boosts their memory, attention and motor skills
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Helps Parents Rest
A baby with poor sleep patterns and habits is a parent’s worst nightmare. They will keep you up all night which can easily drain you after a few sleepless nights. However, if they’re old enough to develop an internal body clock, it doesn’t hurt to try sleep training. This allows you to rest since you don’t have to be at your baby’s beck and call.
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It Works
At the end of the day, all that matters is whether this technique works or not. Research has found a significant reduction in crying time and frequency when sleep training a baby. Additionally, the research states that there was no association between sleep training and negative attachment styles which many believe that it does.
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Decreases Resistance To Sleep
Gentler sleep training methods can help decrease resistance to sleep. Babies tend to associate sleep with negative experiences due to separation anxiety. However, you can make it more appealing to them while sleep-training them. The chair method is one way to make sleep less dreadful. In this method, you simply sit in the chair until your baby falls asleep. You can say soothing words or pat them to calm them down but you shouldn’t pick them up. Can’t Sleep? How To Avoid Or Beat Insomnia
Cons
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The Cries Can Be Heartbreaking
The whole point of sleep training your baby is to make them less dependent on you to go to sleep. At times, it requires you to let your baby cry it out. This technique can be super hard on some parents since they have to listen to their baby cry helplessly and not do anything about it.
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It Doesn’t Always Stick
Some parents believe that once they manage to sleep train their baby that they won’t experience any more challenges. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There are days when your baby will be cranky or sick and unable to sleep peacefully. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect a miracle from the sleep training method.
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It Can Cause Emotional Trauma
Unlike contrary opinions, babies are smart. They’re also sensitive to their environment and tend to depend on their parents and caregivers to help when they’re in distress. Therefore, when this help doesn’t come, this might cause deep trauma. Some have argued that sleep training is cruel since it lets the child cry until they give up hope. Sleep training should take a few days. If it takes longer than that, then maybe your child isn’t ready and you should avoid the technique. Anxious Attachment: Causes, Symptoms, Triggers And Coping Methods
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