The Ferber method is devised by Richard Ferber who is also the head of the Centre for Pediatric Sleep Disorders. The Ferber method deals in managing sleep routine for babies between 3-5 months of age. The purpose of the method is to make the baby adjust with the new environment to sleep and according to Ferber’s view, initially a baby will have a tough time falling asleep; however with a period of time he will adjust himself with the new environment and sleep peacefully. This approach guarantees not only fast results but also e parents to keep enables parnt to keep a check on their babies.
Richard Ferber’s baby sleeping method is an efficient technique to help the baby sleep on his own without the efforts of the parents/guardian. Ferber’s concept explains that initially the child will be facing a lot of restlessness with a tough time sleeping. However eventually, he will adjust to the new environment and will consequently sleep peacefully. Below given is the step-wise approach of Ferber’s method.
The below steps are relevant for both day time and night time sleep and must be followed for at least 7 days.
- Based on Ferber’s opinion the baby should be allowed to sleep after half an hour from his usual time as this delay will make the baby a little tired and help him to sleep for a longer time. However, too much delay is also not advisable as that can lead to an opposite outcome.
- Gradually after a few minutes of delay the baby should be slowly placed on his bed and allowed to sleep.
- In the mean while, when the baby starts crying, it is recommended to wait at least for 3 minutes before attending him. For example on the first day of using the Ferber method, and consequently for the first cry, the mother should wait for at least 3 minutes. For the 2nd time cry, the waiting time should increase to 5 minutes. And finally for the 3rd time cry the waiting period can be even longer to up till 10mintues and so on.
- The strategy implies that with each waiting time the baby is given more time to adjust and bear the discomfort in the new environment. This will continue consistently for at least 7 days with increasing periods of waiting time for each day and for every single cry time.
- For every time the mother attends her baby, she should not wait for more than 2 minutes and should also not try to pamper the baby to sleep, as the aim should be to let him fall asleep by his own efforts.
- If the baby sleeps at unusual times, then he should be not permitted to do so as that would disrupt the Ferber method’s rules. Also the baby might not sleep properly at night.
Ferber’s method has reportedly given successful results within 4-5 days where babies have quickly learned to sleep by themselves without much hassles.