> Month 4 Overview Start your sleep coaching at bedtime. When making changes to sleep it is vital to start at bedtime, from there you can continue to coach through the night or you can just focus on bedtime for a few weeks to see if the rest of the night improves on it’s own. An alternative is to focus on bedtime and the first third of the night and to do whatever works from about midnight to morning (link to bedtime is key – in sequence e-mails) What if my baby cries?  Sometime babies cry during sleep coaching and this is never pleasant for babies or their parents. Unfortunately for some children some crying will be part of the processno matter what the method is or how gentle we make the process.Temperament, past experience and age are contributing factors in the amount and intensity of the crying. . Prolonged, unsupported crying is harmful for babies. So what is too long? This is for you to determine, however, if your baby has not had calm periods in 40-60...

Check with your Health Care Professional to determine: If sleep coaching is appropriate If there are any underlying medical concerns How many night feedings she feels your baby needs (remember your opinion counts too) Determine if your baby is developmentally ready for sleep coaching at this time ()link?). Even if everyone tells you that this is a good time to teach your baby to sleep better, it is important to determine if your child is developmentally ready. Babies who are sleep coached too early will take much longer to learn the skills and they are more likely to cry longer and harder without showing signs of self-soothing. It is always better for baby and a gentler process if you wait until he is developmentally capable of learning self-soothing skills. Consider your baby’s temperament. Understanding your child’s temperament will help you choose a sleep coaching technique that is better suited to your child and may give you an idea of how to implement...

What is the best time for sleep coaching? Before using a sleep intervention, try to wait until your baby is least 2-3 weeks past the onset of any indication that he has entered into this developmental stage. Of course it is also fine to wait longer. If waiting is not an option, starting off with the sleep basics for a week or more can help you get improvements in the short term and try to take baby steps until your child is at least 18 weeks of age. This will help the sleep coaching to be a gentler process for both baby and you. Click here for Sleep Coaching Techniques for 4 Month Olds (link to sleep coaching method...