One of the first questions new parents usually ask is “when can/should I sleep train my baby?”. I don’t suggest officially sleep training until at least 4 months as you need to give babies time to reach an appropriate level of development and for their circadian rhythms to kick in. However, there are ways you can “practice” with your little one to set them up for greater success as they get older. One way to do this is called the soothing ladder. As the name suggests, the steps are followed like the rungs of a ladder and you ascend the ladder with each step becoming progressively more involved while supporting your baby.
How to use the soothing ladder method-
After your bedtime routine is over, put your baby down in the crib while awake and leave the room. Take a pause and observe what your baby is doing. Is your baby quiet and going to sleep on her own? Congratulations, you are now the envy of every other caretaker around. Baby crying? This is expected and you can now implement the soothing ladder.
With this method, you start from the bottom “rung” of the ladder which is the least involved and try each step for 30-60 seconds before climbing to the next rung.
1. Your Presence- Enter the room and be near the crib. With this step you are simply being there, not touching or talking. Babies are perfectly capable of sensing you are there without hearing or physically feeling you. Wait 30-60 seconds. Still crying? Move to the next step.
2. Your voice- Use your voice to sing, reassure, shush, or comfort your little one however you see fit. Remember no touch yet, just a calm, soothing voice. After 30-60 seconds if this hasn’t done the trick, move to step 3.
3. Replace Pacifier- if your child uses a pacifier, you can now replace it. No change or your child doesn’t take a pacifier? Move to step 4.
4. Your touch- Use your touch to reassure your baby. This can look a bit different depending on your baby’s preference. Some options are back pats, belly rubs, head caresses, or simply holding your hand on the belly or back. If this is helping, remain here as long as needed as the goal is to soothe while still IN the crib. If no progress, move to next rung.
5. Rock/Jiggle- Many times movement helps soothe little ones so you can gently jiggle the bed or even rock your baby with your hand. As with step 4, you can stick with this as long as you need if it is helping as this is the last step in the crib. Not helping at all? Move on up.
6. Pick up- If none of these steps have worked ( this is NORMAL, especially when you first start practicing), pick up your baby until they calm. Ideally, once calm, you will place your little one back in bed. You can try the pick up/put down a few times. If this doesn’t work, move to the next step or help your baby to fall asleep in your arms.
7. Feed- This should be the last resort after allowing your baby to try self-soothing with the previous steps before jumping to a feed. The reason behind this is to prevent your baby from solely relying on feeding in order to fall asleep. Sometimes it is necessary, though, and that is okay! Remember we are simply practicing right now.
There you have it- the soothing ladder method. If you have a baby under four months, this is a great way to get some practice on seeing what your little one can do while still being there to support as much as needed. This can also be customized to your situation based on what helps your baby sleep, just remember the point is to go from least involved to most involved. You may be surprised what your baby can do when given a little space!