How to Use the Ferber Method

The Ferber Method trains your baby to fall asleep on his own, so he won't wake you up.

New parents often suffer from sleep loss due to waking up periodically to soothe a crying baby. Richard Ferber, the director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at the Boston Children's Hospital, developed a solution to this problem. According to his method, babies can be trained to soothe themselves to sleep as soon as they are emotionally ready (between the ages of 4 and 6 months). Though the Ferber Method has been criticized and said to cause emotional scars down the road, other parents, presumably well-rested ones, swear by the method.

Instructions

1. Establish a warm, nurturing bedtime routine early on, including a bath, cuddling with and holding the baby, and singing a lullaby or reading a bedtime story. Continue this routine while you use the Ferber Method, which you can begin when the baby is around five months old.

2. Replace bedtime feedings with another activity, such as gently rocking the baby.

3. Place your baby in his crib awake, in a different room from your bedroom. Go to sleep.

4. Wait five minutes after hearing your baby cry on the first day before responding. After five minutes, go in to comfort him without picking him up or feeding him. Speak softly, and stay for a few minutes before going back to bed. If he cries again later, wait 15 minutes before comforting him. Continue to wait 15 minutes before comforting him whenever he cries in the night.

5. Wait 10 minutes on the second day before responding to your baby's crying. Respond the same way as you did on the first day, speaking softly to your baby for a couple minutes without picking him up or feeding him. Keep the second crying interval at 15 minutes, but increase subsequent crying intervals to 20 minutes.

6. Wait 15 minutes on the third day before responding. Increase the second crying interval to 20 minutes, and increase subsequent crying intervals to 25 minutes. Most babies will stop crying after the three day period is over, and will be able to fall asleep on their own.

References

• Baby Center: The Ferber Method Demystified
• Professor's House: The Ferber Method