For those parents who want to help their babies go to bed without any tears, the nuances between methods can be hard to pick out. Just like the pronunciation of one syllable can slightly change a word (toe-may-toe / toe-mah-toe), the little details can be what separate one sleep training process from the other. So how is the No-Cry Sleep Solution different from the Self-Soothing Sleep Method? Although there are only a few slight difference and points to ponder, knowing these things could sway you in choosing which sleep method to use.
Since both approaches aim to teach babies and children how to happily drift off to dreamland on their own, the main difference between the two is that the No-Cry Sleep Solution is a more holistic approach that takes more aspects of a child's life into consideration than just self-soothing. To see how No-Cry builds, you first need to take a look at it's foundation in self-soothing. The ultimate goal of Self-Soothing is to put baby to sleep drowsy, but awake, and allow baby to comfort herself until she's in dreamland, as Baby Center explained. Parents can be nearby, but should refrain from constantly soothing the baby until she's snoozing.
In order to encourage self-soothing, parents can provide baby with a consistent nighttime ritual and calming sleep environment to set the stage for a dreamy bedtime, as Dr. William Sears suggested in an article for Parenting magazine. This may mean a warm bath, quiet music, or reading books together to induce all the yawns. Whatever your routine, it should be meant to signal the arrival of bedtime, and with that, sleep.
Using the basics of this concept, parent educator and mother of four Elizabeth Pantley developed the No-Cry Solution for putting babies to bed sans weeps. In addition to the preparation for self-soothing, the No-Cry Solution believes babies and parents benefit from examining all aspects of a child's day in order to create the best sleep at night. Making sure that nutrition, physical well being, and quality daily naps are a priority play a big roll in the success of this approach. Additionally, teaching children relaxation techniques has proven to be a useful tool in this method, especially for those past the baby phase. Parents who tried the no-cry sleep solution told Today's Parents that the results they wanted showed up within days.
With the slight differences in these two approaches to sleep training, it seems the No-Cry Solution can only work with a child's ability to self-soothe, meaning these methods go hand in hand. Either way, your baby is destined to get some solid Zs and hopefully you can too.
