| Richard Ferber is director of the Center for Pediatric | | | | your infant will learn that crying earns nothing more |
| Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital in Boston who | | | | than a brief check from you, and isn't worth the effort. |
| believes in a “progressive” approach to helping | | | | She'll learn to fall asleep on her own, without your help. |
| your child fall – and stay – asleep. | | | | Ferber says that there are a number of things that |
| Ferber has developed a forward-thinking plan of action | | | | may interfere with your child's sleep. Before you |
| to instill consistent and regular sleep patterns in your | | | | "Ferberize," you should make sure that feeding habits, |
| child. Briefly, he suggests that after a warm, loving | | | | pain, stress, or medications are not causing or |
| pre-bedtime routine such as singing, rocking, or reading | | | | contributing to your baby's sleep problems. |
| a book, you put your child to bed while she's still | | | | Ferber recommends using his method if your baby is 6 |
| awake. According to Ferber, putting your child to bed | | | | months or older. Like most sleep experts, he says that |
| while still awake is crucial to successfully teaching her | | | | by the time most normal, full-term infants are 3 months |
| to go to sleep on her own. | | | | old, they no longer need a nighttime feeding. And at 6 |
| Once you put her in bed, leave the room. If she cries, | | | | months, none do. |
| don’t check on her until after a specified amount of | | | | Ferber’s method can be modified if you feel it’s |
| time has passed. Once you do return to her room, | | | | too rigid. Stretch out Ferber's seven-day program over |
| soothe her with your voice but don't pick her up, rock | | | | 14 days so that you increase the wait between |
| her, or feed her. Gradually increase the length of time | | | | checks every other night rather than every night. |
| that passes between checks. After about one week, | | | | |