Is There a Minimum Age to Sleep Train a Baby?

"Is my baby too young to be sleep trained?" This is one of the most common questions I get asked as a Pediatric Sleep Consultant.

And my answer is always the same: There is no specific minimum age for sleep training, but some babies may not yet be ready, depending on a few key factors.

🚫 If one or more of these points applies to you and your baby, now is not the right time to sleep train:

➡️ Baby has an inconsistent bedtime (bedtime varies by more than an hour each night).

➡️ Baby confuses night and day.

➡️ Baby still needs a night feed(s) but your goal is to night wean.

➡️ Baby has health problems.

➡️ Your pediatrician has not approved of it.

Whether your baby is ready or not for sleep training has nothing to do with their age. Your baby could be 2 months old and ready to sleep train because none of these points apply. On the other hand, your baby could be 7 months old and not quite ready yet because one of those points still applies to them.

Babies are capable of independent sleep from birth. Crying is not harmful. There is zero evidence to back-up the claim that a baby can be too young to be sleep trained. Sleep training does not cause any harm, short-term or long-term. Click here for studies.

So why do some sleep consultants say that there is a minimum age for sleep training?

There are many sleep consultants that have a particular age in mind and recommend sleep training begins only after that point. For some sleep consultants it's 4 months, for some it's 6 months, etc. I have figured out the 2 main reasons why these sleep consultants have these principals:

👉 The sleep consultant's methods involve dropping all night feeds. Many do not believe that you can sleep train a baby and keep a night feed, which is why they want to ensure that baby is old enough to handle going all night without a feed. My approaches do not involve cutting all night feeds, which is why I do not have a problem with working with babies under 4 months old.

👉 The "4 month-minimum" myth is so widespread that the sleep consultant decides to just go with it to avoid negative backlash. If a parent decides to sleep train their young baby and for whatever reason they don't see the results they wanted to see, they will blame it on their baby being too young, and also blame the sleep consultant for taking on a client with a young baby. (Instead of actually working with their sleep consultant to figure out what the problem is). If the baby is over 4-6 months old, the parents can't blame it on the baby's age anymore and are more likely to continue being consistent and trusting their sleep consultant.

What About Melatonin Production?

Melatonin levels start to develop when babies’ circadian rhythms mature which happens around 8-12 weeks old. That doesn’t mean that babies cannot fall asleep independently before then however. Many babies naturally fall asleep independently even prior to this even without any kind of sleep training. The circadian rhythm and melatonin levels only really truly matter in relation to sleep training when talking about what time bedtime is at. If a baby is so young (and doesn’t have a developed circadian rhythm) that bedtime fluctuates greatly from day to day (one day it could be at 7:00 pm and the next it’s at 10:00 pm, or perhaps baby cannot tell night apart from day) then yes, I’d strongly suggest that parents wait until baby’s biological clock is in rhythm to start sleep training or else you would be having your baby fall asleep at a time that is hard for them to. But if your baby is not struggling with inconsistent bedtimes or day / night differentiation, there is no reason why you can’t start sleep training now. Sleep training is mainly teaching baby to fall asleep independently and babies are capable of that at any age.

I sleep trained my own son at 2.5 months old and I still firmly believe it was the best decision I have ever made from him so far.

✅ Is my baby ready to be sleep trained? A Check-List:

If you answer "yes" to all of these points, they are ready!

✔ Your baby has a consistent bedtime of within a 1 hour range each night.

✔ Your baby can differentiate night from day.

✔ If you plan on night weaning, your baby does not need any more night feeds from a nutritional standpoint OR if your baby still needs a night feed, you plan on sleep training while keeping a night feed.

✔ Your baby is healthy.

✔ Your pediatrician has approved of it.

Sleep deprivation is real and it affects not only your mental well-being but also the bond and connection with your baby, as well as your relationships, your physical health, and nearly every other aspect of your life. Having a baby that fights sleep when you are still newly postpartum is incredibly difficult.

If sleep training means you can be a better parent for your baby, I do not see a reason why you wouldn't just do it. Your baby's age should not hold you back.

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