Even if you think you're ready for a newborn to take over your life, nothing prepares you for the lack of sleep and trying to establish a sleep routine. After a few restless nights, parents will try anything to get their little bundle of joy to realize how lovely sleep is. If you need a hand putting your baby down to bed at night, here are the sleep training methods all parents need to know.
The more extreme sleep training methods
These are a little more on the controversial side, but they are recognized sleep training methods.
Cry-it-out method
One of the most controversial sleep training methods is the cry-it-out method, which might be the hardest on parents. You put your child to bed as you normally would and do not, for any reason, go back into their room. If your child still takes a night feeding, you feed the baby and get right back out of the room. Experts don't even agree about if and when it's OK to go in and comfort the baby.
Chair method
The chair method is also a little controversial because it is like the cry-it-out method, except the parent is sitting in the room. You put a chair next to the crib and sit in it to comfort the baby. Once your little one is asleep, you leave. If the baby starts to cry or wakes up, you go to the chair while they fall back asleep. Each night, you move the chair a little further away from the crib. You don't pick the baby up, pat them, or do anything to soothe them but sit in the room with them.
Fading methods