How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night

First of all, there is no right way to get your baby sleep through the night. Each parent will find what makes them feel comfortable. I have two separate experiences that worked for me. One was with baby #1. Our pride and joy, we , never set him down. He was carried and coddled everywhere he went. Oh, boy, did we pay for this as he grew older. At six months old, he would cry at the dinner table if we did not hold him. He wouldn't sleep unless we rocked him for an hour. He would continually wake up all night long, for no other reason than to be held. This was cute, at first, until mommy and daddy couldn't function anymore. So, when he was nine-months old, we decided to sleep-train him. But where did we start? If you look online, there are so many methods. These were the ones we took into consideration:

1. The Cry-It-Out Method (CIO). This involves different approaches, from letting your baby cry and cry until they feel asleep, to letting them cry for ten minutes and then go in and comfort them, repeating the process until the baby sleeps. Every night, you increase the amount of time you are gone, and eventually, they stop crying altogether.

2. The No-Tears Approach. This involves creating nightly routines with your baby so they know it's time for bed, and parents respond anytime baby needs food or comfort.

Honestly, I was a #2 fan. But, as a working mom, it just wasn't working. I HATE when my babies cry, so CIO didn't appeal to me. But, we ended up taking the less harsh end of it and slowly spent more time away from the baby until he stopped crying for us. We went in and comforted him at regular intervals. Honestly, it only took about 3 days for us to get him trained. It was faster than I expected. Just be forewarned, that first night will break your heart.

So, I lived and I learned. By the time baby #2 came around, I knew all the tricks. I laid him down before he fell asleep so he always fell asleep on his own. He was never rocked to sleep except as an infant. If you have a new baby, this is the way to do it! They start to learn really quickly how to fall asleep, and when they're old enough to go without constant feedings, sleeping through the night won't be a big deal like it was with my baby #1. Baby #2 never gave me any trouble sleeping through the night when he was old enough.

Baby #1 and I got in so much bonding when he wanted me to hold him all the time. I feel like I missed out on that with my last one. Whatever method you choose, no one will completely agree with you, but that's okay. You'll know what's best when the time comes. Good luck!