Deciding whether to sleep train your baby is a personal decision that depends on various factors, including your parenting philosophy, your baby's temperament, and your family's needs. 

When it comes to sleep training your newborn though, we have to consider their developmental readiness & have realistic expectations: 

• Newborns have extremely immature sleep patterns & a neurologically too immature to truly know how to self-settle 
• Contact naps & lots of hands on support for sleeping is super normal during the first 3 months of your child’s life and we wouldn’t recommend to ‘sleep train’ a newborn using methods that requires you to leave them to cry  

Depending on their temperament and what other factors are put in place to foster a good day’s/night’s sleep, some newborns will glide through their undefined sleep cycles quite easily & with little help. While others seem to struggle to settle to sleep, no matter the time of the day and then wake again within a short amount of time. 

When we are talking about sleep training, there are different parts to the process: one is to look into current sleep associations (i.e. feeding to sleep), then decide what alternative approaches we can choose to replace it.  Most sleep training methods typically apply to older babies, usually around 3-6 months, when they start 

• developing more regular sleep cycles i.e. their circadian rhythm is clicking in and their body produces hormones more reliably, which help the body to settle into a more predictable sleep & awake pattern
• their brain/nervous system is able to self-sooth reliably i.e. ready to learn how to do this (from 16 weeks onwards)

That said: studies have shown that even a small delay in responding to your newborn’s cry can make a big difference: while crying is communication and we want to respond to their cry asap, allow yourself to stop, take a breath and listen to what’s going on: newborns are noisy & sleepers and them moving a lot, grunting and fussing while trying to go (back) to sleep is nothing to worry about. Try to be curious about what they communicate, before you decide they need your help. 

If you find your newborn's sleep patterns challenging, look into what kind of healthy & age appropriate sleep habits you can introduce, until they are ready for more structured sleep training approach:

• Understand Newborn Sleep Patterns: Newborns have irregular sleep patterns and typically sleep for short periods throughout the day and night, needing help to connect sleep cycles/ sleep phases
• Create a Calm pre- sleep routine: This helps signal to your baby that it's time to wind down.
• Set up a supportive sleep environment: Darkness, room temperature, add white noise
• Trigger their “calming reflex” by introducing i.e. swaddling, dummies (non- nutritional sucking), side positioning for settling (IMPORTANT: once calm/asleep, roll them back onto their back for safe sleeping), patting etc.
• Day & night feeding balance: babies are amazing calorie regulators, and missed daytime feeds (for newborns that sleep very well in the day) can lead to more frequent night wakes/feeds 
• Recognize Hunger Cues: Newborns wake up because they're hungry, but that’s not the only reason, so take the time to learn to recognize their hunger cues. Rooting/wanting to suck isn’t always a sign for hunger, but your child’s quest for some calm to go off to sleep 
• Age appropriate awake windows: Newborns can only cope with quite short awake times. Over as well as under tiredness can interfere with your newborn’s sleep cause more fragmented sleep 
• Be Patient: Remember that newborn sleep patterns evolve over time. It's normal for babies to wake frequently during the night for feeding and comfort, particularly in the early months.

Each baby is unique, so it's essential to approach sleep training with sensitivity to your newborn's individual needs and developmental stage. 

For lots of science based & age appropriate info on understanding your newborn’s sleep & how to support them, check out our Newborn Guide.