Baby Sleep Tips - The Ferber Method
Author: Brandon C. Hall

One of the most important things in getting you baby to sleep
properly is for your baby to learn to sleep on his or her own.
The reason it is so difficult for many parents - why parents of
a newborn suffer from so many sleepless nights - is because your
baby, at first, isn't used to sleeping on his own, and when he
wakes up in the night he cries for his mother: being in the
presence of his mother is only way he knows how to get to
sleep. It is natural that this transition from sleeping with
the mother, to sleeping on his own, will take some time for
your baby. Many baby sleep tips involve setting up a strict
nighttime routine, and introducing objects - such as stuffed
animals - into the bed that your baby can associate with sleep.
If you find after some months that your baby is still not able
to sleep on his own, you can try what is known as the Ferber
method.

Invented by Dr. Richard Ferber, the Ferber method is the most
common way of weaning your child away from the mother, in terms
of his sleep habits. It is usually successful within a couple of
weeks. Nevertheless, it is important that you choose a week
where you can afford to lose some sleep to begin the Ferber
method. Especially at the beginning of the process, the Ferber
method does require that you spend a lot of time listening to
your baby crying, and if you attempt it at a time when you are
desperate to sleep, you run the risk of breaking down and
allowing your child to sleep with you, or sleeping in the room
with him. If you do so you risk undoing a lot of work that you
will have put into the method.

The first night you attempt the Ferber method, put your child
to bed as you normally do. Your baby should be tired but still
awake when you put him to bed, so that he is left to fall
asleep on his own. After you leave the room, the baby will
inevitably start crying. Allow him to cry for about 5 minutes,
then re-enter the room to console him. It's important that you
stay in the room for only a short time - even if he is still
crying - and that you don't pick him up or rock him. This
second time you leave the room, wait 10 minutes before
returning in the same manner. The third time wait 15 minutes,
and set this as a maximum wait time for the rest of the night.

Every time thereafter, enter the room briefly and then allow
your child to cry for 15 minutes. Eventually, he will fall
asleep on his own during one of the 15 minute intervals in
which you are out of the room. The second night, you should
begin with a 10 minute wait before re-entering the room,
followed by 15 and then 20 minutes. In a similar fashion,
increase your initial and subsequent wait times by 5 minutes
each night.

Using this method your child will soon learn to go to sleep on
his own. Although it can be difficult to listen to your baby
cry, understand that the Ferber method is a safe and effective
way of getting your baby to learn to sleep on his own.


About The Author: Brandon C. Hall maintains
(http://www.freeinfoblog.com) which contains many articles and
resources on baby sleep tips at
(http://www.freeinfoblog.com/category/baby-sleep-tips). There
is also information on dozens of other topics.