My kids all slept like champs and I truly think that it's because we had a consistent routine. Their bodies naturally knew when it was time to sleep. I never did sleep training in the typical way that you hear about. I don't support or practice crying it out! I have my own strong options on that. Babies cry for a reason and even if it's simply because they want held, that's still a damn reason.
However, I did sleep train in different way. If my kids woke up on their own (which was surprisingly rare) and I assessed that nothing was wrong I'd sooth them right back to sleep while they were still in their bed. I didn't disrupt them by getting them up or letting them get upset over feeling alone if I was certain that nothing was wrong. I simply sang to them and rubbed their backs or noses until they fell back to sleep. I knew that if that didn't work quickly, because 99% of the time it did, something wasn't right and I had missed it. Either they were gassy and needed burped again or they just woke up scared. They needed something so I addressed it. Babies will tell you when things aren't right. If they wake up and you're able to sooth them straight back to sleep then most likely nothing is wrong. They will wake right back up if it is. If they don't go back to sleep fast then something is probably wrong. Maybe it's gas, a growth spurt so they are still hungry, they had a late/long nap so they aren't tired, they had a bad dream, they woke up feeling alone so they want held, ect. Something needs addressed and there is a reason that they can't rest. Learn to listen to your baby even if they can't talk yet. I usually had to wake my babies up the first few months of their lives to feed them every 3-4 hours because they'd sleep through feedings and I was paranoid about blood sugar issues. Once they got older I did let them sleep longer periods but even as a veteran mom whose raised 3 newborns I will still wake this baby up to feed him or her if baby doesn't wake on it's own. My sleep isn't more important that the risks to my baby. Most people live by 'never wake a sleeping baby' or 'babies will eat when their hungry' but I'm just not on that train. If a baby has jaundice, low blood sugar, isn't feeling well, is emotionally stressed, ect the baby will sleep more than normal/harder even if he or she's body is hungry and a baby skipping feedings can cause health issues that lead to things such a seizures and death. Dramatic but TRUE! Blood sugar problems can very realistically cause seizures that can in return cause a long list of severe possible side effects including brain damage and death. Of course that's not common but the risks still will never be worth it to me. As for the 'never wake a sleeping baby' thing goes, have y'all not heard of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome? Yeah well to put it simply that typically happens when a baby sleeps too deep and their brain forgets to tell their body to take breaths so the baby suffocates. I know 6 women personally and several others through mutual friends who have lost their babies due to SIDS. Sadly it's not super uncommon.
Sure, if a toddler or preschooler is napping I do avoid sleep disruption (unless it's a late nap) but that's very different than a sleeping baby that hasn't ate in 6 plus hours or has slept deep for a long period. I'll just be honest and say that I think it's pure laziness to not wake your newborn or young infant up to eat. It's easier to let them sleep and basically baby sit themselves than it is to wake them up and take care of them. Nothing anyone can say to me can change my opinion on that. I've had 3-5 kids, 5 of which were under the age of 4 at one point, and if I can say that I will gladly wake a baby up to eat rather than taking the easy way out by risking a blood sugar issue or SIDS then anyone else's arguments on it are completely invalid to me. Same with crying it out. Laziness and borderline not humane.
Obviously if my toddler or school aged kid is throwing a fit for having to sit in time out or for not wanting to share that's one thing because they can communicate what is wrong but a baby has no other form of communication. Crying is their only way of talking to us and despite it being stressful at times to hear, we still have to listen and address the problem. You can't just lock a baby up in a room to cry until it can't cry anymore so it goes to sleep. What's wrong with people? Ugh, clearly this whole topic is touchy for me. Having been a foster mom and done the training to become one I've seen how damaging crying it out for babies can end up being. It truly can cause life long neglect issues inside of that child and it's not okay in my opinion. I wish that I could be fake and say 'Do it if it works for you and don't worry about anything else' but in this case I can't/won't support anything to do with this topic.
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