This is the place to look up information on baby sleep. It's important to know that babies under the age of 4 months are unable to self soothe. This is 4 months gestational age. If your baby was born two weeks early, for example, you would need to wait until your baby was at least 4 months 2 weeks before you started a CIO form of sleep training. Some parents feel more comfortable waiting until 6 months of age. Before this time, you can use whatever means necessary to get your baby to sleep.

A wonderful book for helping infants under the age of six months get to sleep is, "The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer", by Harvey Karp, M.D.

The most comprehensive book of sleep information you can find, no matter what method you choose is, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. Dr. Marc Weissbluth has studied theory of sleep extensively and you can learn a lot from his book. This board refers to him many times when parents ask about teaching their baby to sleep.

Another cio method some parents use for babies 6 months and older is the "Ferber" method. "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems", by Dr. Richard Ferber, M.D.

Most local libraries carry these three books.

Lastly, an article that speaks about sleep deprivation in babies-
"The Promise of Sleep", by Dr. William Dement . "A Pioneer in Sleep Medicine Explores the Vital Connection Between Health, Happiness, and a Good Night's Sleep"

I hope you find these links informative and look forward to helping you and your baby get a good nights sleep!

The last link was to a book. Here is a link to the article about sleep deprived babies.

http://www.familysleep.com/ This is the site of a sleep consultant who uses the Weissbluth method. It's an excellent resource for information.

Another cio method some parents use for babies 6 months and older is the "Ferber" method. "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems", by Dr. Richard Ferber, M.D.

to give the readers of your forum updated info

ferbers new position on CIO
http://www.ambybabyblog.com/index.ph...it-out-method/
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Health/story?id=1317690

Nov. 16 2005 — After 20 years of "Ferberizing" their babies, many parents are wondering if they did the right thing — for themselves and for their babies — by allowing their youngsters to cry themselves to sleep.

It's a method that is not only taxing on parents physically, but also emotionally.

"You just feel like a bad parent if you let your baby cry," said Matt Rees who has an infant daughter, Sofia.

The confusion centers on page 78 of Dr. Richard Ferber's 1985 book, "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems." The chart lays out a seven-day timetable for how long to leave one's baby alone before "going in to visit your child briefly" to comfort him or her. By day seven, the baby is crying for as long as 45 minutes before being reassured.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Ferber now says that allowing children to cry for extended periods of time was not meant to solve all sleep problems. A revised edition of "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" that will come out this spring will offer other solutions besides leaving a child alone in his or her crib. The original book has sold about 1 million copies.

Sleep coach Suzy Giordano pushes moderation. She helps parents, like Rees, who tried the "Ferber method" on his daughter, get their children off to sleep.

"There comes a point when a baby is crying that you are not teaching them anything anymore," Giordano said.

Nonetheless, Ferber stands by his book.

"Actually, there is no change, I think that's a misconception," said Ferber, the director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital in Boston. "Our approach has always been one of compassion."

His idea, Ferber said, was to merely keep a baby's crying to a minimum.

Ferber said that the key to solving a child's sleep problems is to understand the child's needs. If the child has a great deal of separation anxiety during the day, that child will most likely have trouble sleeping alone at night. Dealing with a child's emotional needs must take precedent so a child can feel confident at night — that might mean more physical contact at night.

However, if a child does not seem to have separation issues but is merely going through normal adjustments, crying for a little bit might be necessary for the child to learn to sleep alone.

"I think that when we work with parents and explain to them, that when they have a youngster fall asleep in their arms you suddenly abandon them in their cribs … you are not doing them any service," Ferber said. "You are turning the tables on them."

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~Jenny~