There is so much talk about sleep training. Do I really have to sleep train my baby for them to sleep better?

Many moms choose not to sleep train and instead go with the flow, relying on routines and comfort. Sleep training is a choice, not a requirement, and often depends on culture, family setup, and parent capacity.

Community Answers from Moms(11)

Here's what moms in our community shared based on their own experience.

1. 1

   Some moms openly say they didn’t have it in them to sleep train because of the crying involved, so they just followed baby’s cues and did contact naps and feed-to-sleep instead.

2. 2

   Moms also share that in Indian families, separate dark-room sleep training isn’t always practical or culturally typical—many prefer room-sharing and more responsive settling.

3. 3

   Others mention that there are gentler methods like ‘pick up, put down’ but these are hard work and not very common.

4. 4

   In the US, some families do formal sleep training after 5–6 months, while others never do. Most pediatric guidance emphasizes safe sleep first; how you help baby fall asleep is a family choice.

5. 5

   A friend did the pick-up-and-put-down method. You put them down to sleep, and if they cry you pick them up and put them back down when they stop. It's intense and difficult the first few days and you have to stick to it, but there's less crying.

6. 6

   I didn't take professional sleep training but followed some guidelines, and my 5.5-month-old has been sleeping through the night since 3.5 months with 2 dream feeds. We have a strict routine: a 7pm bedtime, feed on waking, a morning walk for sunlight to regulate her circadian rhythm, naps that end by 3:30pm, a warm bath and book at 6pm in dim light, no lights after she sleeps (use a red bed light), giving her 5 minutes to resettle herself when she wakes, and not letting her cry herself to sleep.

7. 7

   Unless you sleep train so they sleep independently, they'll wake and look for assistance. We just do our routine and wait for them to connect sleep cycles - every baby takes their own time.

8. 8

   Culturally in India we don't generally sleep train, and not everyone has it in them to do it, though some find it helps long term.

9. 9

   My paediatrician said you can sleep train by putting the baby next to you in a dark room, pretending to sleep and letting baby cry - not necessarily a separate room. But you can't sleep train after they get mobile and start crawling.

10. 10

    I fed my baby back to sleep in the middle of the night till 2.5 years; as soon as I stopped, within 2 weeks she slept through the night.

11. 11

    Babies generally cannot be sleep trained before 5-6 months of age.