Why sleep training your child does not work  

Having a baby is amazing for many parents. However, when you can’t get them to sleep. It can be discouraging as many people try a lot to get their babies to sleep through the night. If you are reading baby sleep books, searching through google, hiring a sleep therapist, but sleep training does not seem to help. Why does sleep training not work for some parents? Even after you hear many success stories from other parents. Could you be doing it wrong? Do your babies sleep through the night two days and back to their previous routine? All these concerns come to the mind of a parent who seems to find their sleep training failing. Below are some of the reasons why sleep training your child does not work.

Lack of consistency 

Consistency is vital if you want your sleep training to be effective. Once you have decided that you are sleep training at bedtime. Parents should ensure that they stick to the plan. To work around this depending on the number of kids you have. Since different age groups have different sleep needs and routines, ensure the daytime naps are as consistent to avoid interfering with the night time sleep routine. Talk to your nanny or daycare about the importance of this nap consistencies for your child. If consistency is lost, then the sleep training will be difficult and your child will take more time to learn to sleep. As a result, it will not work. Because of this, do not cave in when it is bedtime, but as a parent be intentional about being consistent.

Distractions present in the room 

If your child is still sleeping with you, your room may have a lot of distractions that cause them not to sleep. Besides, kids that sleep in a nursery could also be distracted easily with some of the baby gadgets. For instance, not all of them are helpful with too much light and color. Other things that you might want to remove are crib aquariums and light projectors. Just have the essentials where the baby sleeps, a comfortable bed, with a Serta icomfort mattress, beddings, and have actual blackout curtains as the nursery should be dark. If you have any sound machines, ensure that you choose one with constant rain or a white noise setting as they are not disruptive. Try preventing any form of distractions, as this will affect the effectiveness of your sleep training.

Rushing in at every peep 

When you rush to check your baby every minute when they are fussy. Sleep training becomes a challenge, and you also get exhausted fast. Allow the baby to be fussy for a few minutes before checking on them to encourage the new routine as you give them time to adapt. Even when there are people in the house that can make them wake up. Stick to the training if you do not need to be up at 2 a.m., and the crying baby is affecting everyone’s sleep due to their crying. For this reason, sleep training will not work if you continue rushing in at every peep. One little cry, in many instances, does not mean a full wake up. To try this differently, get a baby monitor as it is handy and reassuring when you are sleep training. Besides, even with the sound off, you can check to see how your child is resettling on their own. In this way, you will be surprised how fast they get into the sleep training routine.

Putting down the baby too late 

Even after sleep training, your baby is not sleeping all night long. He wakes up like clockwork at 11:30 p.m., 2:00 a.m. 4a.m or 6 a.m. What could you be doing wrong? The time you have set for bedtime may be too late. Hence, the baby does not get a good night’s sleep. Although many people think that the 7 p.m. bedtime is too early, it is very normal bedtime for a toddler. However, during weeknights, it can be a challenge, as you have to get through dinner, bath, and books all that is necessary for their bedtime routine. Still, to achieve sleep training success, you have to sacrifice the first two weeks after you start. Although you will get a few rough nights. In the end, it will be all worth it. As a result, the baby will fall asleep on their own and also stay asleep through the night.

Overstimulating your baby 

This is common for parents that are doing a sleep training method that has timed checks. Because of that, you have to walk a fine line with this one. As you go over to check your baby, ensure that your presence is reassuring to your baby and not as overstimulating. Even when you are putting them down, picking them up, and any other method that you use to calm the baby. When you pick up your baby to soothe them, ensure that it is very brief and do not cuddle or rock your baby for a long time. This is overstimulating them, and it is a step to failing with your sleep training. To be successful with this, keep your check-in style brief and consistent.

Forgetting naps 

When you forget that naps are important, sleep training will not work. As a parent, you need to focus on the whole 24 hours of sleep. If you do not consider the day time naps, the 2.a.m wake-ups will drive you crazy. Naps will give you better success whether your child is under-tired or overtired. Plus, it is not possible to have an effective sleep training by just focusing on nights. Another thing, how do you put your baby down for the naps? Treat nap time and bedtime the same if you do not want your child to be confused about the sleep routine. So, commit to consistent naps at home, in the same sleeping area you use at bedtime to make it flawless.