Am I the only one who thinks traditional sleep training is cruel?

Here here!!! I haven't slept for more then 2hrs for about 4 months now. I'd rather be this tired then leave her to cry. She'll work it out eventually and until then I'm good for a hug.

Completely agree. It annoys me when family and friends tell me that babies cry and I should let my boy cry that I am spoiling him. Yes they cry because they need me so I will attend to him. If I am spoiling my baby, let me spoil him, his mine after all 😀

We bedshare for this exact reason, my little lady is going to know mummy is there for her whenever she needs me, her cry breaks my heart and she doesn't like dummies so I'm her food and comfort.
So I agree and any one else who disagrees really need to look at the physical and mental toll it'll take leaving your baby to cry it out and exhaust themselves

I haven’t sleep trained but the reason my baby wakes all night is because she feeds to sleep so cannot connect sleep cycles as her environment has then changed I don’t think I will sleep train but I can certainly see why people do today I actually felt so unwell after 3.5 months of no sleep I wish there was an answer to having sleep without sleep training

Totally agree

I couldn't personally sleep train but I'm team whatever works for your family is what you should do. I feel like there is a huge amount of mum shaming for so many choices we have to make and no one really knows what it's like in someone else's shoes. Everyone loves their babies and does what they think is best for them x

There are ways. You can support your baby to get better sleep without using cry based methods. I don't claim to know it all but a sleep specialist will be able to help you. I got some support from a sleep consultant and my baby went from doing 3-4 hour stretches, waking for over an hour in the middle of the night, super early starts for the day, and not napping apart from contact naps... He now sleeps 7-9 hour stretch, wakes for 1 or 2 quick feeds maximum, and naps in his cot twice a day. We have seen a huge change but at no point have I felt like he has gone without his needs being met. I'd be happy to share the details of the sleep specialist we used, she is all about the gentle methods

Yes please

https://www.thegentlesleepmama.co.uk/

We were told from the start by our health visitor that they learn to fall asleep with the cry it out method because they see it as they’ve essentially been abandoned and know that no one is coming. Nothing about the cry it out method will ever be okay for me tbh. I understand if you need a break, good walk away for 2 minutes, they’ll be okay, but never ever will I leave my daughter to cry to the point she feels abandoned and has cried so much that she’s too tired to stay awake

I don’t use it but crying out method has many variations- the most gentle is that you let your baby to fuss and you come and comfort when they get more frustrated, and then leave them and if the same happens , you again come to comfort - in this way you show that you are still here but they are perfectly fine on their own too

Couldn't agree more. I'd personally feel cruel leaving my baby to cry. I can't ignore my babes if she needs comforting ☺️

First time mummy here! So, I used the Pampers sleep coach to help get us into a routine. For me the thought of him crying and crying killed me. I sat there on the stairs crying whilst he cried. But after 5 minutes I went in. Reassured him I was there and left, after two nights of doing this he is in a routine with his naps through the day and at night. He doesn't cry for more than 4 minutes and as soon as he wakes up (he wakes up Happy and laughing and talking away) I go and pick him up give him a big hug and show how much loved he is.
At night time he has two feeds, one around 1am and the other around 3:30am.
(BTW I only did the 7 day free trial as I wasn't paying for it! If I hadn't have used it, I would have never got him in a routine and his only way of falling asleep was on my boob, not good for when I go back to work and other people are looking after him).
Everyone is different, every baby is different. I was left to cry as a baby, and I turned out all ok.

Couldn’t agree more.

I would never ever let a baby cry, the only time she really does and I can’t get to her is when I’m making her bottle but other than that she’s straight into my arms unless she just does one cry and then self soothes back to sleep also. Babies need their mummy or daddy for comfort especially at such a young age.

So much research into how it affects them as they grow too. 100% agree

I have a 14 month old as well as a newborn so don’t really have much option but to leave the newborn in her Moses basket to cry at times. Sometimes I’ll need to do this for up to half an hour while I make food for the toddler….