A plate of cookies or muffins and a note to your closest (nearest by) neighbors will go along way. Most people are pretty tolerant of people with small children, and being upfront of possible few nights of noise will make you appear respectful and courteous as a neighbor.

Let the sleep training begin!

The reason your 5 month old is waking to nurse more often at night is because she is going through a growth spurt. She is nursing because she is hungry; she is hungry because she is growing.

Treating this phenomenon with "sleep training" methods would not be addressing her very really physiological needs, and would be a source of misery for all.

Like all things with children, "this too shall pass", just hang in there... growth spurts don't last that long.

"Sleep training" is for older children; a 5 month old is not old enough to go through it.

Our baby has the same schedule and so we have the same problem. Paper thin walls do not help. It's best to nip this in the bud before it gets more difficult. This was learned the hard way after our first. I must say that I am dreading it also. Goodluck. Oh, we are planning on moving afterwards.

This book proved to be invaluable for us with our twin baby girls.

Pick up a copy--http://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Hours-Sleep-Weeks-Old/dp/0525949593.

Good luck;)

Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; you are raising a human being ~ Kittie Franz

Sleep training, even by proponents, is NOT recommended under one year of age. Full stop. Babies so young cannot manipulate or get bad habits that need to be 'nipped in the bud'. Save that for sassing back when they are teenagers!

The pp is correct -- babies notoriously start waking to eat more around 4-5 months because it is developmentally appropriate for them to do so. Restricting access to food at night can cause weight gain problems as well as milk supply problems. If nursing to sleep works without crying works, why not do it? Then no-one cries. Remember that this too shall pass and soon enough your baby will be an independent toddler and you will miss those nighttime snuggles.

There are MANY compelling reasons to not CIO; see www.kellymom.com for support and info.

This is not about design or even neighbours, this is about being a parent 24/7, including feeding your child when they are hungry.

Get some earplugs and gift-wrap them for your neighbors along with a card, but do not make apologies for having a baby. Spring for a white noise machine for them if you feel that strongly about someone else's sleep.

I co-slept with my child until he was 8-9 months old, and he sleeps 12-13 hours in his own room. The idea that what happens now leads to ruining your child for life comes from (1) a lot of parental fear projection and (2) people with all kinds of well-meaning "advice" who tell you if you don't do XYZ, your child will turn into an XYZ, a total failure, and will wear a diaper and suck his thumb in college, etc. etc. etc., and it's a lot of nonsense scare tactics to get you to parent according to their rules.

wow... sleep is such an emotionally stirring subject. i think it is important to say first that you are the mum, you know you baby best. growth spurts are a possible cause, we went through something similar around that time and after about a week normal sleep returned. i have found that dr sears sleep book has some wonderful suggestions for assembling a nighttime parenting plan. i think soon after 3 months is a perfect time to establish a proper bedtime routine. most importantly remember that the beauty of having a baby is just when you think you have things figured out, they change. i think being flexible and willing to adapt to their current needs is a great way to keep your sanity through the trials of sleep. good luck. go with your mum gut!

Please forget about your neighbors. If you don't help your baby learn to fall asleep now things will get worse and you'll be keeping them up even longer along with yourself and your baby. When our baby started waking up at 6 months I went to her and nursed her because she was hungry and she fell right back to sleep. But then as she got older she stopped falling asleep after nursing. She wasn't really hungry anymore but had gotten use to me nursing her back to sleep. Crying it out didn't work for her, she is too persistent. Going to her and nursing her every time just made her wake up more and when she didn't want the breast she cried because I had just woken her up more. Trying the family bed made her wake up even more! We were a wreck. Now she's 10 months and a week ago a friend gave us "the Baby Whisperer" and we are following it and making great progress. The biggest thing for us has been making sure she gets two good naps in every day. Check out her book. By the way, when my older daughter was 6 months we let her cry it out and it lasted two nights and she never cried more than 7 minutes. Don't let other moms guilt you out of trying it if you think it will work for your baby. It does work for some babies. All the sleep experts say not to wait until your baby is one to start sleep training. Having started it late with my second I concur. Our waiting to do something is just making her suffer more now as bad habits and props are all she knows now. Good luck!!

Check out The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. It really helped with easing our infant into a better sleep routine once he could go longer stretches between feedings.

1. don't worry so much about the neighbors. crying is a fact of life with small children. i think leaving a nice gift on their doorstep is a nice idea if it's really bothering you.
2. The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. love this book. it does not give you a cookie cutter solution to sleep, but rather many different causes and solutions. allowing you to make your own plan, based on your child (because every child is different).
and know this...your baby is "NORMAL". do not let others tell you what she should, or should not, be doing. Good luck!

There is nothing wrong with sleep training. You just have to time it correctly. From what you describe, now is not the time to do it.

The four month sleep regression can last for a while. It is a developmental spurt that coincides with a growth spurt. Sleep training won't help. It will just teach your baby that you won't come when she needs you. Check out www.askmoxie.org for info on the sleep regression.

the Wonder Weeks is an excellent book that tells you when babies are going through developmental spurts. Those spurts are times when trying to sleep train won't work. You need to wait until a calm time developmentally. The website has a little map that is quite helpful. http://tinyurl.com/yxbc2m

There is a newish book called Bed Timing: The "When-to" Guide to Helping Your Child to Sleep. http://tinyurl.com/ydbnnmk It tells you when it is a good time developmentally to try to sleep train.

Babies who slept well at one time will sleep well again. You just have to wait out the spurts.

Do Not Worry about your neighbors! It's Apartment Living and your child's crying will be short lived!

If the problem is that your baby is spending every night nursing in your bed all night, keeping you up, then you need to start putting her back in her own bed after she's finished feeding. If she cries, then rock her to sleep. She's a baby--it's OK to rock your baby to sleep in the middle of the night, you're not going to create a "sleep monster." And this way you'll get some sleep. You can sleep train her later when she's old enough and it's developmentally appropriate. My daughter is now 16 months and puts herself to sleep every night. Sometimes she cries, but it's because she wants to stay up with us, not because she can't put herself to sleep.

i was also going to suggest "the no-cry sleep solution" by elizabeth pantley. i used it with my older son at 18 months, to help him night-wean as i was expecting his little brother and didn't think i could manage nursing two babes during the night, in two different rooms. we had total success - with no crying - although it didn't end night wakings completely. (heck, he woke up last night [age 4.5 years] needing help to get to the bathroom in the dark.) babies wake up for all kinds of reasons, just like kids and adults.

it sounds like cosleeping and nursing on-demand is allowing you both to sleep, without crying or worrying about waking the neighbors. i don't believe this develops a sleep monster. i believe it develops a secure baby who knows her mother is there for her when she is needed.

however, cosleeping isn't for everyone, and it's not the only way to meet everyone's needs for food, comfort and sleep. if you want your baby to sleep in her crib, what about you temporarily sleeping nearby? you could either bring her crib into your room, or a twin mattress for you into her room. that way, it's not such a hassle for you to respond to her in the night, and she ends up back in her crib instead of your bed. once she starts waking less often, you could move further apart, each in your own rooms again.

Right on LorienQ. I agree completely. And...the "guru" of sleep training himself now has gone on record to say that if he had had the research we have now on infant/child brain development and the harm of CIO he never would have done it with his children and he never would have recommended it in a book. Please just try to meet your child's needs as best you can without expecting him/her to behave in a manner that is not developmentally appropriate.

Are you sure your neighbors even hear your baby crying? Depending on your apartment's construction, they might not hear such a high-pitched sound, whereas more bass-heavy sound (like a stereo) may come through loud and clear.

If they do hear her, there really is only so much you can do. Other posters have made great suggestions about notes and perhaps a small gift. Sometimes just acknowledgment goes a long way towards soothing any resentment over noise issues. You might want to talk with them, or leave a note, to set your mind at ease as much as let them know you are doing what you can.

from a design perspective, kids are noisy and this is probably just the beginning There's lots you can do to muffle the sounds for your neighbors. Felt is a great sound absorber. You can use felt rugs, wall hangings, etc. Now, the rugs can work to absorb the sound of sleep training, later they can muffle foot steps. The more upholstery/fabrics you have, the better.

Good Luck!

sleep training?? all sleep methods are wrong, no baby needs to learn to sleep, they know how to sleep. Co-sleep and wait till they maturate is the only respectful way.

I can't agree with some of the folks here that you should not care about your neighbors' discomfort -- in fact, I applaud you for being considerate. Yes, noise is part of apartment life, and yes, for YOU your baby's needs should be paramount, but your neighbors didn't ask you to have a baby and to ignore or handwave away their discomfort would be incredibly self-(or baby) centered. I have two kids and understand how tough it can be when it comes to middle of the night crying -- but all the understanding in the world doesn't get me back to sleep if I've been awakened by a crying neighbor kid, know what I mean? It sucks no matter how it happens.

Kids are going to be at least a little noisy regardless of their age or stage of self-control, but this doesn't absolve parents of the responsibility to minimize their and their children's impact on the people around them. I think the suggestions of a little gift or note saying you appreciate their patience and understanding are fantastic and would go a long way to good neighbor relations. (on preview, like ElleBee said.) In the meantime, adding fabric and rugs is probably the best you can do to mitigate the sound. Also, maybe try moving your baby's crib to abut an internal wall, if that's possible?

Best of luck!

Just want to clear up a few misconceptions spread by the the militant wing of the attachment parenting brigade (I'm not against attachment parenting, just the people who judge parents who don't follow it chapter and verse and treat it like some kind of religion):

1. Sleep training does not imply cry it out. In fact, almost nobody who discusses sleep training recommends cry it out. Ferber certainly doesn't. People who jump from sleep training to cry it out simply haven't read these books, but still spread this absurd propaganda.

2. Sleep training can be done from five months onwards. I have done it. I don't believe it makes me a bad person, or that my kid will somehow end up as a drug addict in later life. In fact, because our baby and her parents both sleep well, we're both happier and healthier as a result. Sleep deprived people do not make good parents.

3. It is vitally important to distinguish between your baby crying because she is hungry and crying for other reasons. Hungry babies should be fed. Feeding them plenty during the day will make them less likely to wake up at night. Pumping breast milk can help increase your supply and ensure your baby is getting enough - it also means you can measure how much milk she's getting, and compare it to the charts, which helps your peace of mind if nothing else.

4. When we did sleep training, we never let our baby cry for more than 3 minutes at a time. Cry for 3 minutes, pick her up for a minute, rinse and repeat. It took a while, but it worked (NB, this is NOT "cry it out". Cry it out is when you leave your baby for long periods without comforting her).

5. We were very careful to keep our neighbors as involved as possible - and we made friends with them during pregnancy. This helped a lot (and they are kind of noisy themselves).

Good luck!

This is kind of a sensitive issue for people. This is what I suggest (it is what we did with great success!) but what ever you end up doing, remember to enjoy every minute of it! It all goes by way too fast! :)

1) Like others have suggested, don't worry about your neighbors...they have had or will have children someday, too.

2) Wait until your baby is at least 6 months old and until then enjoy the sleep/nursing thing...I did that too for what seemed like forever. It was a mix of wonderful snuggliness and torture (because you really don't sleep,) but now that my son is weaned, I really miss it.

3) Read the Ferber book and follow it to the letter! I was in tears before we began our "sleep training," thinking that it would scar our child forever. After one night, I was a fan! In three days our son was going to bed like a pro. It works like a charm!

Life is soooo much better when you are well rested! And enjoying your baby is soooo much better when you are well rested! I noticed a change in our son too, he was getting a lot more sleep then he had been and I think that made him happier.

He has difficulties every now and then, when he is sick or when we are traveling, but who doesn't under those circumstances.

It will all work out for you!

Congratulations!

We have baby twins living next door. On the rare occasions that their crying wakes me I am just grateful that I can go back to sleep - your baby's crying sounds far worse to you than it does to others.

Just read Gundy's comment - each to their own I suppose.

I really like the Kittie Franz quote regarding children being human beings, not inconveniences. I have a 7 1/2 month old, and realize that parenting doesn't end when it's nighttime. Yep, I'm part of the Attachment Parenting Brigade ! 67% of the world sleeps with their babies, so I know I'm not alone, at least not on a global scale. Your baby is just 4 months old. She is still developing in so many ways, and is crying because she needs something, probably just you. I would suggest continuing co-sleeping and nursing, it's a great way for you to get some shut eye while also keeping your baby (and neighbors!) happy.

The AAP has linked Babywise (and other cry-it-out sleep training) to dehydration and failure to thrive.

If you opt to sleep train your five month old (who is likely growing and therefore needing those night feedings) please do so with all available knowledge and without denying your child of valid needs.

This is a good resource (and has source links) http://www.drmomma.org/2009/12/babywise-linked-to-babies-dehydration.html

What you decide should be what's best for your family, and like the PP said - don't let other people make the decision for you.

What annoys me is the implication that if you don't follow every last tenet of attachment parenting it means that you think your child is an inconvenience, not a human being. I mean, really?

Guess what: you can sleep train your baby and it doesn't mean you don't love them any more or less than somebody who follows every last word that drops from the Sears' (or anybody else's) lips.

You can also co-sleep and nurse at night and do sleep training! We do all of the above - I totally agree with jessicamt77 that co-sleeping and nursing are great if they work for you and your baby. They worked great for us.

I personally believe that sleep training actually improves your loving bond with your baby: a few days of them crying for a few minutes at a time for an hour or two, and for the rest of their childhood both they and their parents can enjoy great sleep and thus bond much more closely.

But, you should do whatever you think - on the basis of evidence - works best for you and your baby. If attachment parenting works for you - great! That's wonderful! But don't believe for a second that if you choose not to go that route, it means you love your child any less.

And let me emphasize again - you should make absolutely sure that all of your baby's needs are satisfied (hunger, diaper change, too cold/hot) before doing any kind of sleep training (whether or not that sleep training is cry it out - there are MANY sleep training methods other than cry it out).

Danielle, and Gundy,

Thanks for being considerate!! I'm sure dropping by your neighbors, telling them what you're doing and asking for patience will make things to much more smoothly. I would certainly be happier knowing that my neighbor was indeed awake and letting her child cry with a purpose than if I just heard the baby crying without response night after night.

To those of you who think she should ignore her neighbors: bite me. I do not have, nor do I ever plan to have kids; I don't like them, and I don't want to hear them at 3am. But Danielle is looking for a good way to minimize the trauma for people like me, as well as looking for what's best for her child, and THAT is fantastic. You can be a parent and still be a decent person to those of us who don't want kids.

I also recommend No Cry Sleep Solution. It really helps you establish a solid foundation for good sleep habits. Also, don't stress about getting everything just right now. My first was a terrible sleeper, and I did everything wrong. Now (with help from Ms. Pantley!) she is a great sleeper. We also live in an apartment, so I understand wanting to keep things quiet. So enough your little one will be sleeping fine, but you'll be cringing every time she throws her sippy cup onto the floor or takes a flying leap from the couch. Ah, good times.

I really found the Pantley book useful because of all the options she gives (plus a little physiology on what you can expect at what age). I'm pretty sure the latest research on sleep is that babies' circadian system doesn't even develop until around 40 weeks. I have a baby that used to wake up a ton all night and sleeps for much longer stretches now (at 6 mo). I think it's a combo of time and some of the hints from the book.

I think no matter how you decide to handle this part of parenting, the best thing is to realize every child is different and trust your instincts.

It's nice that you're thinking of your neighbors. I'm not overly fond of hearing anyone's kid scream in the middle of the night, on a plane, in a restaurant, etc. and I try to make sure ours never bugs people if I can (it's hard on a plane). However, regardless of whether or not children are liked or wanted by someone doesn't erase the fact that we were all children once and someone had to hear us.

I didn't get a chance to finish my earlier post as I was called away by my own children :)

As no one has posted my idea, here goes...

Danielle, what you need to do at this point, since your daughter is going through this normal developmental growth spurt, is try to increase her feedings during the day to decrease her need to feed at night.

Often this means adding an extra feeding, as well as trying to increase how much she gets at her other feedings.

The sort of brain development that goes on at this stage (imagine all the wiring going on!) can result in disrupted sleep patterns even with increased feedings, but she slept well before, and she will again, naturally. This too shall pass.

I highly recommend the book, which others have recommended, The No-Cry Sleep Solution. That said, all kids are different and some kids will cry no matter what. My child cried if I comforted her, cried if I didn't. We definitely tried gentle techniques and never let her "cry it out" in the sense that we just left her and cried and cried and cried. But we did (and even now that she's nearly 4, still do on occasion), disturb the neighbors.

I do regret the fact that I ran to her every single time she made a peep. Half the time, she was crying out in her sleep and my presence in the room only woke her up more fully.

Good luck to you! I don't miss this time in my child's life and don't look forward to it with future children. :-)

I would recommend getting a white noise machine for the nursery. This will keep out the noise from others, and it will help mask babies' cries for your neighbors.
I am also a proponent of sleep training. I used "Happy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. A child sleeping in your bed is only a short term solution and will compound the problem to epic proportions later on. All I hear is moms who have big kids and are struggling to get them to sleep in their own beds. Good luck! And whatever method you go with, don't feel bad. We're all just doing what works for our kids and our families.

Sleeping and eating are two of the most sensitive issues when it comes to raising an infant, and soliciting feedback nets a huge variation in responses that may or may not be be comforting. I struggled with sleep issues when raising my daughter, solicited a lot of advice from people, and read many books, including "No Cry Sleep Solution", "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", "Sleep Sense", "Baby Whisperer" and others. We live in an apartment in Brooklyn with neighbors on both sides.

After reading lots of books, talking to experts and many other parents who had a wide range of opinions, we were overwhelmed.

I was sleep deprived and going downhill fast; it was taking a toll on our household and my relationships with my family and friends, my daughter was in the 100% percentile for her age in weight, height and head circumference, and was healthy, and our pediatrician indicated that she could sleep through the night without needing to eat (this was at 5 months). He said that feeding multiple times per night creates a habit that the parents can choose to support, or as in my case, if it is not feasible to function at work and manage the household while getting up three times a night, than it can be eliminated without any danger to my daughter's emotional or physical health.

He advocated working on letting her soothe herself to sleep, and encouraged me to touch base with him each day to discuss what was happening. This strategy would involve some crying.

Like any new parents, we were keen to avoid crying, so we tried a number of things first, including feeding her only on one side (trying to reduce the amount the ate at feedings), picking her up and rocking her (wihtout feeding her), and gradual withdrawal, and none of it worked. She'd cry if she didn't eat and the effort to get her back to sleep if I didn't breastfeed was more exhausting than the original problem/situation.

We finally circled back to the pediatrician, he gave me a pep talk about the fact that crying is not the end of the world, and again, encouraged us to try not feeding her (or going in to her) to see how it went. He said "It might be hell for two weeks, but it might not take that long, and you'll all be in a better situation once you're on the other side". He also invited me to call him each day to touch base to discuss whatever might happen and for moral support.

For two nights, she woke two times each night and cried for about 45 minutes. On night 3, she slept through the night and continued sleeping uninterrupted for ~11 hours a night until she was 9 months old. (The exceptions were when she got sick; then we would go to her whenever she woke to help until she was healthy again, and once she was healthy, she returned to sleeping through the night).

We had a setback around 9 months after taking a long trip to visit family overseas. Again, it took two nights and about four episodes of 30 - 40 minutes of crying, and she resumed sleeping through the night.

For us, sleep training was a necessary thing to do and it worked for us.

We did speak with our neighbors ahead of time both times to let them know what we were doing and why, and they were fine with it.

People have a right to their opinions and to advocate the sources they trust. My advice is to take inventory and decide the ideal scenario for yourselves, and what you can cope with. If you can cope with waking several times a night to breastfeed, then be at peace with it. If you can't cope with waking up multiple times and feel that longer periods of sleep would be beneficial for you and your baby, then decide on a plan to get there, or pick a trusted advisor/source to develop a plan, and try it. Above all, do not feel guilty about raising this issue and in trying to find a solution, and do not be swayed by strong opinions in any direction if it doesn't suit your situation. Good luck!

"Happy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth worked for us, too.

Do what you feel is right. All of this blogging is merely advice and it's for you to decide what feels right for you and your kidlet.

Hey everybody: there is no 'right way' to do anything -- especially when it comes to parenting. If something works for you: great. Pass along your tips. Ranting about how bad it is (in your opinion) to do something is a bit soap-boxy, no?

psst: there's a study out there to justify just about everything.

i had the exact same problem at the exact same age. i followed the sleep lady's advice (not even to a t) and had her sleeping through the night again in only 2 weeks - and even napping longer..i recommend this book to anyone having sleep issues with baby.. http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Ladys-Good-Night-Tight/dp/1593155581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265325353&sr=8-1

I disagree with the posts that say to not worry about the neighbors! Giving a heads up and stopping by with a note and cookies or earplugs will pay dividends. You might also learn that the neighbors don't hear your baby's cries and you can rid yourself of some worry. :) When I was single, I was an apartment dweller who lived below a young family. The parents were cool enough to check in and ask if their toddler woke us up on their more 'trying nights' but quite honestly, I seldom heard a peep out of their son on those 'trying nights'. I appreciated their consideration; they were relieved to know I slept through it all.

My experience with sleep training (Sleepeasy Solutions) was much like "mjrenda". It was initially tough, but in 3 nights my daughter was sleeping much better through the night.

The best advice I received was from a nurse at the hospital: "You will be inundated with advice -- even conflicting advice on caring for your child -- but go with what works best for YOU".

Good luck! Your neighbors are fortunate that you are being a good neighbor and a good Mom.

Ok, let's assume you have DECIDED to do sleep training. (Please don't let others' criticism bother you!!) You have to do what works for your family. Period.

It's a good idea to ask your neighbors how much noise they can actually hear. Our upstairs neighbor apologized profusely for their baby crying, and I never had even heard her.

I think anybody but the most jerky of neighbors would be pretty understanding if you tell them you're trying to help your baby sleep better over the long run, by working on some things for a few days. Just knowing that you care about their sleep will probably go a long way toward smoothing things over. (If you have a good relationship with your landlord and you think your neighbors aren't going to be nice about it, maybe you could give him/her the heads-up beforehand?)

Good luck!!

Certain posts above really rankle because there is judgement implied if a parent considers any form of sleep separation/sleep training.

Implying that parents who work on enabling their babies to sleep through the night are somehow shirking their responsibilities or treating their children like an inconvenience is unkind and just plain wrong. If parents learn anything after having a child, it should be humility -- and that it is unfair to judge other parents.

It is a kind thing to investigate whether your neighbors can hear crying noise, and if so, let them know what you're going through and that you're trying to figure out how to improve the situation, so your instincts are good.

Those that say that neighbors who don't have kids will some day (and therefore don't worry about whether noise is bothering them) is completely unfair people who do not have children.

To each his or her own, and everyone needs to respect that -- anonymity or no anonymity.

Babies don't need any help sleeping. Wherever did that silly idea come from?

I don't sleep through the night--I wake several times. And look--there's my husband, right there beside me. Why would I expect more from a baby?

Previous posters are absolutely correct--this is a well documented developmental stage. There is no "training" needed. You are meeting your baby's needs by being there when she is upset and feeding her when she is hungry. Keep it up--you already know exactly what to do!

Wingonwing -- I disagree. Sorry, but you can only speak for yourself. SOME babies do need help sleeping, and mine was one of them. So it's not a silly idea, and you've got no business saying it is.

I have a 4.5 month old who is in bed and nurses throughout the night. I get more sleep having him in bed with me. His needs are met and I don't have to get up out of my warm bed to feed or comfort. Works for us. As you can see by the comments, there are plenty of parents who don't sleep train. (And plenty who think it's essential.)

Don't fret, you can move the baby out later on and she won't be stuck in bed with you forever. 5 months is still really young! We gradually moved out my older son and started (gently) night weaning starting closer to 9 months. (I always put him to bed in his own room at bed time so that I'd have a couple hours before he joined us in our bed.) At 1 year he was sleeping through the night in his own crib.

I liked the No Cry Sleep Solution book by Elizabeth Pantley for some practical suggestions. Good luck. And remember everything is a phase!

I didn't read all the comments...just wanted to suggest: drop by your neighbors with an offering like cookies or whatever, explain the situation, and then don't worry about it any more after that because you have done your part. Just worry about you and your baby! You're the parents, and you know what's best for your family.

I would think that the vast majority of apartment neighbors would be understanding after being approached like that. If they aren't, then there's nothing more you can do for them. And however you get your baby to learn to sleep--in whatever least painful way you can find--she will learn to sleep eventually.

I remember someone saying that sleep training works beautifully for a parent who is dedicated to it, and not for a parent who is not. For me personally, I did sleep training at 10 months for my son and 6 months for my daughter--because my own sanity was at stake. They are happy and healthy and I wouldn't change a thing.

P.S. I loved bits and pieces from The Baby Whisperer and The No-Cry Sleep Solution for my kids.