4 month old advise

Hi all,

My husband and I are going desperate with our LO.She is 14, almost 15 weeks old and sleeps pretty terribly the last couple of weeks. During the day, she’ll have 4-5 naps around 1.5 hours, but only if being held, that’s not the problem yet for us, we just ordered a sling for her for daytime naps.

Until recently, she was able to fall asleep and stay asleep in her bassinet next to our bed and wake up once maybe twice for a feed, but now she only sleeps if held. We tried bed sharing and she hates that as well.

With that, we have decided to try sleep training because she is just not sleeping enough and it’s only two of us and this is unsustainable. We are also struggling to incorporate a good strong bedtime routine, as we never know how she will be.

1. She was born on January 30th, so we want to start training her on February 22nd, at exactly 16 weeks. Is that too early for her?

2. We want to try the Ferber method, but I think she is too young still to sleep in a separate room to us. Does anyone have experience with this method while sleeping in the same room (but not bed) as the baby? Does that work?

3. Any advice on how to establish a bedtime routine? At the moment, when she finishes her last nap, usually around 6-7, we will take her upstairs to the changing room, change her, feed her if she wants it (doesn’t always) and then just relax until she starts getting sleepy enough. We have to bounce her on a yoga ball to settle. The room is pitch dark, and has a white noise machine that she seems to enjoy.

4. She is also EFB, feeding on demand. Is there anything i should be concerned about with that? When she slept well (those were the days) she would only ask for one feed at night and I’m fine to stay that way.

I was against sleep training as it seemed cruel, but after a couple of really bad nights, we are ready. We have researched and I have concluded that sleep training is the best way forward for us.

Thank you!