I agree, it is good for the child to be able to get themselves to sleep and good for the parents to get a good nights sleep
Harry was the most awful sleeper, I BF and he used to comfort feed, Harry woke up regularly every single night usually just about the time i was dropping off to sleep.
I BF him for seven months and then stopped as felt I couldnt do the sleep programme and BF.
The health visitor run a course which I followed their advice. I could not do controlled crying, far to harsh for my liking - leaving them for periods of time to cry.
You need to realise they cry because they cant get to sleep they are tired and dont know how to sleep on their own ...
So with Harry, we put him to bed, he would cry, leave him just for one minute, go in, dont talk just soothe him, leave - he would cry again, but you continue to do this until he settles, first night it took abotu 45 mins for him to go to sleep, you just have to make sure your not in the room with them when the drop off.
Then any wakes in the night, we did the same thing within one week he was sleeping through the night, with only a couple of wakes by about the third or fourth night.
I say through the night, he woke around 5am, but still that was such an improvement, he is still an early waker but he sleeps through the night in his own bed and from seven months til now - he is almost five.
Teaching your child to sleep is such a gift and as long as you are consistent and confident in your approach the technique you use is down to personal choice. Understanding pitch and tome of baby's cry is half the battle.
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Harry was the most awful sleeper, I BF and he used to comfort feed, Harry woke up regularly every single night usually just about the time i was dropping off to sleep.
I BF him for seven months and then stopped as felt I couldnt do the sleep programme and BF.
The health visitor run a course which I followed their advice. I could not do controlled crying, far to harsh for my liking - leaving them for periods of time to cry.
You need to realise they cry because they cant get to sleep they are tired and dont know how to sleep on their own ...
So with Harry, we put him to bed, he would cry, leave him just for one minute, go in, dont talk just soothe him, leave - he would cry again, but you continue to do this until he settles, first night it took abotu 45 mins for him to go to sleep, you just have to make sure your not in the room with them when the drop off.
Then any wakes in the night, we did the same thing within one week he was sleeping through the night, with only a couple of wakes by about the third or fourth night.
I say through the night, he woke around 5am, but still that was such an improvement, he is still an early waker but he sleeps through the night in his own bed and from seven months til now - he is almost five.
He gets a good night sleep and so do we.