Frequently Asked Questions

When your child becomes an independent sleeper, the fact is that her healthy sleep journey has just started. To maintain an independent sleeper in your hands, you will need to understand and learn how to troubleshoot her sleep with a good understanding of appropriate Scheduling.

After your baby has learnt to self soothe, the remaining time is for parents to learn how to spot the baby’s sleepy cues, adjust wake times based on naps and night sleep patterns and how to do sleep recovery or salvage a bad day of naps.

The earliest SleepKraft is able to sleep train your baby optimally is from 15 – 16 weeks old. Before that, baby’s naps are expected to be short as 20 to 30 mins their circadian rhythm (body clock) have not been established. Usually night sleep gets consolidated first then the naps. Usually you will see a 4 nap structure happening around 12 to 15 weeks and at 16 weeks onward, a 3 nap structure.

At this age, scheduling may not be effective yet, as baby’s body clock is not developed and not matured yet. It is too early to sleep train as baby is not ready yet, developmentally. As the baby’s sleep cycle starts to develop, it will likely start from 30 minutes and lengthens over a period of time to about 50 minutes and 1 hour. Physically, your baby may not be ready to self-soothe (eg the ability to suck her fingers), which is an important skill for independent sleep.

In the meantime, it is good to observe an Eat, Wake, Sleep (EWS) routine. Ensure that baby is getting sufficient nutrients, plenty of chances to get sunshine, tummy time and play. Sleep wise, baby should be taking 4 to 6 naps. ranging from 30 mins to 4 hours! Try to ensure that you put baby down around the 40 to 45 min mark with a short wind down routine before that. This is also a great time to establish a consistent bedtime routine to signal and invite sleep for your baby. And most importantly, take some time out for yourself, because your optimal well-being will benefit your baby and all those around.

In Preparation for Sleep Training

1. Set up a camera system with recordable playback.
2. Ensure the room is dark dark dark. Minimise light leaks with full blackout curtains, black paper or velcro tape.
3. Ensure the baby’s sleep space is safe and free of any suffocation hazards in and out of the cot.
4. Get out your best ear plugs.
5. Fan/Humidifier in room for white noise.
6. Sleep logs
7. Clear a 2 week period to optimise sleep training with minimal need for on-the-run naps or late bedtimes.
8. Discuss the implications and impacts of the sleep training period with your family.
9. Check in with your PD that you are planning to do sleep training and ask about the night feeds situation.
10. Be mentally prepared for change (and resistance) as your baby learns a new life-long skill which is independent sleep.

Sleep Associations. This is the number one reason that a baby will take short naps or has multiple night wakes.

If a child is needing to be patted/bounced/rocked/nursed to sleep then when baby wakes up after his first sleep cycle (which is approximately 45-50 minutes long) he will need those same conditions to fall back asleep. While at night you might be able to feed or pat him when he wakes up, these methods often don’t work during the day.

The reason for this is that the sleep drive (day naps have no melatonin to help) is lower during the day and it is harder for baby to return to sleep after a partial awakening. Even if you rush in at first peep, it may be too late and he/she will fight your efforts, making any chance for a nap extension a failure.

To help your baby to learn independent sleep, first you need to choose a sleep training method that works for your baby’s temperament, family dynamics and also your own “stamina” to administer the methodology.

Tough love methods like Cry-It-Out or Ferber may likely take 2 to 5 days if properly administered with appropriate wake times. Gentler methods such as the Chair Method, variations of Pick Up, Put Down, various forms of fading methods may likely stretch you for at least 2 to 3 weeks with consistency. The older the baby is, likely attaining the optimal sleep training results will get harder before it gets easier.

Yup, the one true regression. Not all babies get hit, but if one does, it kinda hts the parents like a ton of bricks. Whatever happened to that “sleeping through the night” angel?!

The 4-month sleep regression is when a baby’s sleep patterns change. It is the first of many new sleep patterns babies experience as they mature. Not all babies experience it. While other later sleep regressions typically last a few weeks, the 4-month regression may mark a permanent change in the baby’s sleep pattern. Plainly, this is when the baby’s body clock is activated and sleep cycles are forming. This is also one of the main reason why they start to do those 30 minute “catnaps”. Catnaps to us but not to them!

Sleep cycles start small, ranging from 30 minutes as the sleep cycle lengthens and eventually hit about 55 minutes to an hour in 1 to 2 months. Yes, consolidated naps are a developmental process, and longer naps will come.

Sleep training is a very personal decision to be made by the family. If everyone is sleeping well and through, even if baby has the most unpopular sleep props, then sleep training is not necessary. Sleep training becomes an option once someone is starting to get sleep deprived, be it the mum, the dad or especially the baby or child.

How do you know if your child is sleep deprived? Clear signs include excessive crankiness or hyperactivity during the day, milestones not attained, long day sleep and broken night sleep, or unusually short wake times for their age group. Once some of these red flags pop up, perhaps your child (and you) need independent sleep to operate optimally.