Child Sleep Training Basics
What is "sleep training"?
Sleep training is behavioural modification to change the pattern or the habits that your child has already gotten into. It uses simple behavioural techniques of what we call "extinction," where you are replacing one set of behaviours for another. You basically either reward a behaviour that you like or you extinguish a behaviour that you don't want by ignoring it. That's essentially the nuts and bolts of what sleep training is all about.
How is sleep training beneficial?
I think in the long run, training children in healthy sleep habits is beneficial, not only for the child but also for the parents and the whole family. If you can initiate good sleeping hygiene, habits and routine in children from the beginning, the quality of life for everybody is going to be so much better.
When can my child begin sleep training?
Sleep training can begin whenever you expect your child to be sleeping through the night and they're not; when this is a problem for you, that's the time to start.
How long will it take to train my child to sleep through the night?
When training a child to sleep through the night, the length of time it takes to be successful really depends on the technique you use. If you're using rapid extinction technique, it could take anything between two to five days and if you use a more graduated approach it could take anything from one to two weeks to get your child to sleep right through the night. It really depends on two main factors. One, it depends on the age of the child because generally the younger the child the quicker the process, it doesn't matter which system you use and it depends on the child's temperament. If you have a fiery child who's tenacious, who doesn't let go, a strong-willed child who's going to cry and cry until something happens, it could be longer before they are sleeping right through the night without waking up.
