The first three to four months of baby's life can be considered the 4th trimester. This is when baby is very much depending on the regulatory system of their caregiver to organize their world. This includes helping the baby to sleep, feed, play and soothe. Throughout this time formal sleep training is not appropriate because baby's brain has not yet developed the capacity to learn the skills of how to fall asleep and put themselves back to sleep. That being said, there are still many tools one can begin to practice with babies under the age of 6 months, particularly between the 4 - 5 month old stage which we call Sleep Shaping. By using Sleep Shaping Tools and understanding baby’s biological rhythms you can help your baby to create a foundation to reach their optimal levels of sleep each month. In some cases beginning with these Sleep Shaping Tools, babies may not even need to do the more formal sleep training process by the time they are sleeping for longer stretches. This is because a foundation will have already been established. For more information on Sleep Shaping Packages click here.
