Baby Sleep Training Approaches Compared by Age

Birth to about 3 months

• AAP: safe sleep first; no formal sleep training in the newborn months.
• Taking Cara Babies: habits rather than crying - full feeds instead of snacking, short wake windows, a clear day-night difference, swaddle and white noise, practice going down awake.
• Happiest Baby: the 5 S's to calm crying - swaddle, side or stomach hold (in arms only, never for sleep), shush, swing (gentle rhythmic motion), suck.
• RIE (Gerber): sleep is something a baby learns to do; keep a calm, predictable rhythm and a quiet place to sleep, and pause to listen before stepping in, while responding to real distress.
• Ferber: not meant for newborns.

About 3 to 6 months

• Sleep often gets worse around 3-4 months as sleep cycles mature; it's a normal stage.
• Taking Cara Babies' formal course is aimed at about 5 months and up.
• Ferber suggests waiting until around 6 months, when the baby is healthy, growing well, and the pediatrician agrees they can go longer at night without a feed.
• Some families start gentle approaches such as the chair method (sitting by the crib and moving a little further away every few nights).

From about 6 months

• Ferber's graduated approach: a calm routine, down awake, brief boring check-ins at gradually longer intervals without picking up or feeding.
• Full extinction ("cry it out"): not returning until morning.
• RIE: change one thing at a time, tell the baby what will happen, stay calm and confident; crying with a parent nearby is communication.
• Research has not found long-term harm from graduated or extinction methods, and none is required. Pick what the family can do consistently; keep safe sleep rules and check with the pediatrician first.