Can One Sleep Train a 8 Week Old?

NO. There are no tricks.
At 8 weeks, he still needs to be on his own schedule,
not on an artificial enforced schedule.
If you can, please try to enjoy these last few weeks
before you have to go back to work.

He's much, much too young. This is what babies do -- wake up and eat. They NEED to do this. And you NEED to respond to him at this age.

It's tough to go back to work when they're so little, but you'll get through it. Yes, you will be sleep deprived at times. Even when he does finally sleep through the night, then there will be illnesses and teething and other things that wake him up.

Embrace caffeine. You'll need it.

NO!!!! :)

At this stage they are purely living on instinct. If they're up--they're hungry, dirty, sick, gassy, something. I think I went 5 months before my daughter started sleeping through the night (on most nights)

you'll be ok--you can do this.

This is precisely what is wrong in our society. A baby is a baby and work is work. In Europe you get six months off with pay when you have a baby. Then you work 1/2 time with full pay. Europe has kinder care centers all over the cities close to where families live. The USA. Drive miles in the opposite direction from where you work. Then drive a long way to work. Repeat in the evening.
We got 3 months with no pay under Clinton. That is a cruel joke. We need full pay and more months to help our baby bond with us and develop emotionally.
Our business leaders suck up all the profits and do not share them with salaried workers. The workers make less and less money over all. Forty years ago a man's salary covered everything for a family. Today it takes two people working full time and the money goes no where.

NOOOOOO!!!!!!

Please don't even try it. Babies NEED to get up every few hours to eat, get a fresh diaper, and experience some comfort and love before going back to sleep.

Remember: This Too Shall Pass!! {and much too quickly, I might add}

I scanned the responses and agree with everyone that your baby is too young for true sleep training. And believe me, I'm right there with you as I posted the same question last summer for my infant!

Yes, you really can't start formal training until somewhere between 4-6 months old, which feels like forever! But I think you can start the "routine" -- incorporate steps into bedtime like lotion massage, books, lullaby to help him understand the transition. But yes, do expect him to still be waking up through the night unfortunately.

For books, I do recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits" by Weissbluth (though his techniques are sometimes confusing/contradictory I think). The first 200 pages are interesting and "clinical" (explanations of sleep cycles, etc.) but you could consider skipping to I think it is page 197 where the concrete month by month advice starts. I also read Ferber's book, and No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Panteley (sp?). Good luck, and believe me I understand how hard it is -- my 8 month old is still giving me trouble!

I'm sorry Mom J, I have to jump on the band wagon.

I hope when you DO go back to work, you will then be SHARING the night feedings with Dad. If you are nursing I would suggest at this time to maybe try to introduce a bottle of BM now and again, so he and Dad can get used to spending that time together.

This is not a guilt trip, but just some insight from a different point of view since my kids are teenagers now.

Infancy is the ONLY time in your child's life when MOM can soothe every ill, solve EVERY problem simply by holding/feeding him. Soon a LOT of his problems will be out of your hands. You've got the rest of your life to sleep, work, etc. (Easy for me to say, I know!)

I DO remember what it's like to be sleep deprived most of the time. I was for many years. But now I'd give up a decent nights sleep (or a hundred of them) to nurse, hold, soothe, a baby one more time.

(Sorry, I probably sound like your MIL, right?)

You can certainly TRY sleep training, but it is not the best thing for your little fella for quite awhile. All three of my kids had very different sleep habits, and STILL do. So "training" or not training, he is what he is....

Enjoy it, and congratulations!!

:)

Nope! He's too little. Hugs. No sleep / erratic sleep is a hard thing to adjust to, and most of us never really do. But babies need to eat when they're hungry in order to grow properly, and they need physical contact / comfort in order to thrive (tons of studies on that, btw, spanning decades. Look up the ones on russian orphanages if you feel like crying your eyes out next time you're PMS'ing).

Now there ARE a few books out there, but they're black listed by every pediatric and children's welfare group in the country (including nursing, med, and psych schools) because of the number of "bad outcomes" (aka death), brain damage, organ damage, and "failure to thrive", and "inability to bond" that have come from well meaning & loving parents following those particular books (their super radical publisher even dropped them). Here's a page on those books so that you can avoid the http://ezzo.info/ My feeling is that there are books out there on how to build nuclear bombs and overthrow the government, but just because they're out there and following their steps "works" doesn't mean that I should do them because of the OTHER consequences of following their directions.

Typically the EARLIEST sleep training is recommended is 6mo. Which probably seems like 6 million years, but trust me... it's all over in a BLINK. As tired as you are, try and revel as much as you can in every moment. ((And if you read for fun, grab a good book for nursing sessions. Reading while nursing kept my sanity. I figure I'm there; holding, rocking, humming, doing the whole food supply thing... STARING, however, seems a little like overkill ;))

To answer the question-No. But to offer some advice-keep in mind thru this time and thru your journey with your little one-parenting never stops. Doesn't stop because it's nighttime, because we are tired, sick, have to go to work, have a dinner date with our hubby, etc.

I would be concerned about the sleep issue too but keep in mind that infant sleep is never static. Right now your little one is running purely on instinct.
Just because baby doesn't get down to sleep till 11 now doesn't mean that won't change. And it usually does. Baby starts working back to a "more normal" hour to get settled in the evening.

Google 4th trimester. That will give you a great idea of where your little on is now.

You can begin routines now for night but you can't expect baby to "get it" for several more months.

My best suggestion would be to make food on the weekends and pop in the freezer or meal plan to make dinner time very easy once you start back. That will free up time to get something else done once you come home. Maybe buy enough towels so you only have to wash once a week. Decided now how to get organized to make life run smoother and make it easier for you to run on little sleep. You'll be surprised how your body just gets used to it.

Babies do have to be taught how to sleep and I believe using kind and gentle methods like Dr. Sears Baby Sleep book, The Baby Whisperer and The No-cry Sleep solution. These 3 all offer greats tips, tricks and info to help you learn about infant sleep so you can better teach your baby to sleep better when he is physically and neurologically ready.

nope. some kids sleep through the night fro the start most dont. youll get used to tthe lack of sleep. try to have a routine and keep lights off so you can get baby back to sleep, but other than that baby should and will wake ( honestly its not safe for a kid to sleep through the night at this age, if they do on own that is great but forcing it would be terribly wrong!) you can swaddle baby as well. but a few times a night is NOTHING! could be way worse! good luck!

Updated

nope. some kids sleep through the night fro the start most dont. youll get used to tthe lack of sleep. try to have a routine and keep lights off so you can get baby back to sleep, but other than that baby should and will wake ( honestly its not safe for a kid to sleep through the night at this age, if they do on own that is great but forcing it would be terribly wrong!) you can swaddle baby as well. but a few times a night is NOTHING! could be way worse! good luck!

He is too young to sleep all night! Some kids don't sleep all night until over a year old. The minimum age to start is 6 months old and keep in mind that CIO and other methods will not always work sometimes the only option is time.

No, not a good idea in my book. Babies this young need to wake up to eat this often. Sleep training is not so great until they are about 4-5 months old. Newborns need to eat all the time so waking up is natural for them. Sorry hun. Sleep deprivation is just a matter of being a mommy. No matter if they are 8 weeks or 8 yrs. old. Sometimes you just have to deal. It sucks, I know. I pray that you get the rest you need and the strength you need for when you don't! :)

No you can't! I believe in sleep training, but not until 5 or 6 months. Your baby is brand new. Hold them and care for them. Do not let him cry.

He sounds perfectly normal. We did not put DS down for the night at that age until (what we hoped was) his last feeding at 11-11:30 pm. Yes it is completely exhausting. If you put him down at 11 and he sleeps for 4 hours, then you should go to sleep at 11 and you can get 4 uninterrupted hours as well. He will wake up when he is hungry and sleep through when he is ready. Does he really need a bedtime? Most infants will wake, eat, sleep on their own schedule at this age no matter what you do. It sounds like he can already fall asleep on his own so I do not see a problem there.

Hi!
I am here to give you hope. All these responses make me laugh! My son was sleeping through the night--10PM-6AM at 7 weeks and my daughter was by 12 weeks(she was a premie). I did not sleep train, but I did not pick him up right away either. I believe in helping them establish a sleeping schedule early on. Very similar to Dr. Weissbluth. I would feed them and then let them be up a bit and then they would sleep a bit. Then I would wake them up when it was time to have another bottle(3hours after the last). I wanted them well fed during the day, and I wanted their long stretch of sleep to be at night. Eventually around 3-4 months I transitioned them into longer awake periods and 2-3 naps per day. I believe that a schedule for the baby really helps. I am not an "on demand" type person. Once a routine was well established my babies slept great at night!! Routine, routine, routine! There is hope!!

L.

I'm certainly no expert as I've only had 2 kiddos so far. But in my experience, at 8 weeks, no I wasn't able to sleep train yet. Both of my kiddos started sleeping through the night at about the 4-5 month mark.

I think you can start to try to get him to fall asleep on his own rather than rocking him or feeding him to sleep. That was my first step in sleep training, I would get him really really sleepy, but not fully asleep and put him in his crib so he was used to putting himself to sleep. But I didn't start letting him try to put himself back to sleep when he woke up at night till around that 4-5 month mark. My reasoning was that before that I really felt that he was waking because he needed something - cuddles, diaper change, food. I think you'll be able to tell when he is capable of going the longer haul through the night w/o a bottle, but at 8 weeks I'm not sure that he is ready for that yet.

Good luck going back to work! You'll do just fine!

I'm afraid not... not at 8 weeks... but very soon, this will pass, and you won't even remember how crazy this time in your life was (regarding lack of sleep, etc.). I have an 8 week old as well (and a 5 year old)... your baby sounds a lot like mine. Tired at 8-9, but won't really go down for the night (or at least 4-6 hours straight) until 11-12. He is a really good night sleeper though... and up for most of the day. I'll take it, because I know many other mom's have it much harder at night. To only wake up once (if that) is easy peasy compared to what it could be. I think that the 4 month period gets easier... so just hang in there and attend to the needs of your little one on demand. You are not getting into any bad habits at that age, so don't worry about that! And the sleep thing... just remind yourself that this too shall pass. Goodluck!

He is still tiny :( He needs to eat when he wakes up. There are only little once. This will pass before you know it.

Congratulations!
BUT, your baby isn't even 60 days old yet.
You can't "train" him, but you can try to develop a sleep pattern for him.
I'm not saying it will work.
All babies are different.
If your baby is only waking a few times at night....you are so blessed you don't even know! If he's going to sleep even after 11....still a major blessing.
Listen, don't try to push it. It sounds like you have a really good little sleeper and surely his patterns will change as he grows and gets teeth, but this isn't so bad.
My babies were both very alert and awake during the day. With my first baby, I thought, "What the heck? Don't babies sleep all the time? I can do laundry and clean the house and she'll just sleep. It will be bliss."
Ummmm. Nope.
She didn't give me a minute's rest during the day, but she was an amazing sleeper at night. She woke up once a night to nurse and that was it. With my second baby, I was certain I couldn't get lucky twice, but he was the same way.
I'd like to say I had tricks, but I didn't. I didn't force sleep or naps during the day and at night it was all about lights out, comfy, quiet, some boobie time, baby in crib, everyone else laying down. I was dead on my feet by the end of the day. Baby would cry, I put them in bed with me to nurse. If we both dozed off, fine, otherwise baby went back to their crib and that was it until morning.
It wasn't anything forced. It just worked naturally.
I think the main thing for you to do is be thankful your baby sleeps as well as he does and also just relax. Babies really can pick up on stress.
You can try to make a baby do this or that, but they are too little to read the manual.
Right now, your little precious baby just needs to feel like he is in the happiest most comfortable place in the world. Which he is.
If you get get too nervous about going back to work and trying to force things, that's where you might be disappointed.
If you just relax a bit and stay calm, your baby will feel that and be more at peace.
That's the only thing I can think that works with a baby this young.

I wish you the best. I really do.
You are doing an awesome job!

no, hes too little. sorry, but you will be amazed at how little sleep you can get by on. you will sense when he is big enough. sounds like he isnt doing too bad, honestly. .... yawn ...... haha... really, i wish you all the best, i know its so rough. i didnt sleep for years, like probably about 5 or 6 years straight that i never slept more than 3 hours at a time, usually less. i have 3 little ones in a small house. there are lots of methods you can try when he is older. i didnt do it for either of my older kids, but by the time my 3rd, tyler, was 10 months old, he was sleeping no more than an hour at a time, at any time. it was nuts. awful for everyone, especially him. i dont know, he was in some kind of intense eating needing thing, it was so bad. so then i did it, i had to. it was awful. but it worked. and he sleeps better than anyone in the house now. he is 3. i still wouldnt do it again unless i absolutely had to. which i did. you have to see how it goes, but not yet. you are still at his beck and call for a while :) try to enjoy the age, i miss it horribly.

What are you trying to accomplish with sleep training?
If you are trying to get him to sleep through the night (meaning a 6 hour stretch at one time) then there is a way to work on that. If you mean getting him to go back to sleep on his own after he has wakened, there is a way to work on that. If you mean getting him to GO to sleep on his own without you getting him fully to sleep before he is put into his crib (which it sounds like you already have this one mastered) then there is a way to work on that. But they are not all the exact same thing.

From what you have written, it sounds like your biggest issue is getting him to stay asleep for a long stretch during the night. 4 hours at a stretch is not at all abnormal, so know that going in. I used the "Babywise" theory of the ORDER of the baby's activities to get mine to sleep long stretches at night and it worked beautifully with both my babies. One was sleeping 6 hours without waking, then feeding/diaper change and going right back to sleep for another 2 hours or so, starting around 11 weeks old. The other was going 7 hours then waking for a feeding/diaper change and going back to sleep for another 2 hours or so beginning at almost 6 weeks.

Know that Babywise is highly controversial. I didn't use everything in the book or exactly what was in the book. But I DID make sure that after baby ate he/she was awake for awhile before they slept. Eat, awake time, sleep, eat, awake time, sleep (instead of eat, sleep, awake, eat, sleep, awake). Then, when it is bedtime, you skip the "awake" portion. You feed them, get them drowsy and put them in bed. It worked well for us. You might consider giving that a try. Just change the order of his 'activities'.

Sometimes it can be a little challenging to keep them awake after they have eaten, but no more so than keeping them awake to eat a full meal rather than 'snacking' and falling asleep midway through and then being hungry 30 minutes later.

I have a 13 year old, a 3 year old, and a 2 year old.
The 13 year old STILL has problems as far as sleep goes. Hard to fall asleep early, wake up early. When she was little I was a bartender and loved to sleep late. So I would put her to bed around 10 or 11 PM, and she would sleep until about 9:30 or 10. I never thought anything was wrong with that. I was so totally wrong!!!
Poor sleep habits are a hard thing to break. If I could go back in time and make her go to bed at 7 or 8 I would.
The 3 year old is a fabulous sleeper, as is the 2 year old (after a four month living hell of colic when he was a baby). I received the book "HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD" by Dr. Weissbluth. It was a real eye-opener!!
All babies (and tweens, teens, even adults) have their own sleep "schedule" built in. You just have to help them find it. The book really saved my sanity with my 2 year old. The colic was the worst experience I've ever, ever had. If he had been my first I would be the mother of just one child instead of three for sure. But the book has SO much good advice. Do yourself AND your new baby a favor and get the book. It will help you to understand a lot of what they need.
And, by the way, my 13 year old has always been hard to wake up, hard to get to sleep.
In comparison, my 3 year old goes to bed at 7:30 each night, sleeping until 7:30ish each day, with a one hour nap during the day.
My 2 year old is on the same schedule, except he will sleep for 2-3 hours for his nap. And I truly believe that neither of them would be that way had I not followed the book.
Good luck to you!

Try putting him to bed earlier. At 8 weeks, both of my kids were going to sleep by 7, at the latest. Now, DS who is 5.5mos, goes down at 6 every night. She's just ready. Anything later = wakings all night long. (She still wakes up 1-2x to eat each night, too).
It's also OK to let him fuss for awhile to get himself back to sleep.

I do know a couple of people that have done CIO at 8 weeks and SWEAR by it. While I support CIO, I don't think I could do it that young. Just me. I'm struggling with doing it now with DS, since she's still hungry overnight. I think when the feedings start to dwindle, then you can start on it.