Is There a Minimum Age to Sleep Train a Baby?

"Is my baby too young to be sleep trained?" This is the most common question I get asked as a Pediatric Sleep Consultant.

And my answer is always the same: There is no minimum age for sleep training. Assuming your baby's doctor or pediatrician approved of it, the right time to sleep train is when the parents think it is time.

Allow me to explain.

Babies are capable of independent sleep from birth. Crying is not harmful. There is zero evidence to back-up the claim that a baby can be too young to be sleep trained. Sleep training does not cause any harm, short-term or long-term. Click here for studies.

So why do some sleep consultants say that there is a minimum age for sleep training?

There are many sleep consultants that have a particular age in mind and recommend sleep training begins only after that age. For some sleep consultants it's 4 months, for some it's 6 months, etc. I have been in the field for long enough to have figured out the 2 main reasons why these sleep consultants have these principals:

1. The sleep consultant's methods involve dropping all night feeds. Many do not believe that you can sleep train a baby and keep a night feed, which is why they want to ensure that baby is old enough to handle going all night without a feed. My approaches do not involve cutting all night feeds, which is why I do not have a problem with working with babies under 4 months old.

2. The "4 month-minimum" myth is so widespread that the sleep consultant decides to just go with it to avoid negative backlash. If a parent decides to sleep train their young baby and for whatever reason they don't see the results they wanted to see, they will blame it on their baby being too young, and also blame the sleep consultant for taking on a client with a young baby. (Instead of actually working with their sleep consultant to figure out what the problem is). If the baby is over 4-6 months old, the parents can't blame it on the baby's age anymore and are more likely to continue being consistent and trusting their sleep consultant.

I am not saying all this just to convince more families to work with me. I sleep trained my own son at 2.5 months old and I still firmly believe it was the best decision I have ever made from him so far.

Sleep deprivation is real and it affects not only your mental well-being but also your bond and connection with your baby, as well as your other relationships, your physical health, and nearly all other aspects of your life. Having a baby that fights sleep when you are still newly postpartum is incredibly difficult.

If sleep training means you can be a better parent for your baby, I do not see a reason why you wouldn't just do it. Your baby's age should not hold you back.

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