The Empathic Sleep Teaching Method for Your Baby

“Empathic baby sleep teaching” is a newer term that you may or may not be familiar with if you have children. Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings and needs of another person and to put yourself in their shoes to the best of your ability Empathic sleep teaching is using empathy to teach your baby about sleep and sleep patterns. This method strives to do what is best for the welfare of the child while not causing them any undue stress in the process.

By using empathy to understand a baby’s sleep habits, the parents can put themselves in the place of the infant in order to figure out what the root of the crying is. What this serves to do is to make it possible for the parents to alter their response to the baby’s cries and to respond in an empathic manner to the problem in order to find a positive solution.

Empathic teaching is similar in some ways to attachment parenting when it comes to bedtime however it is also different. The number one priority used in empathic sleep teaching is the infant’s long-term and permanent need to fall asleep and stay asleep on her own, without requiring the assistance of her mother. This type of sleep teaching espouses the belief that a baby’s state of needing to be parented in order to go to sleep is only temporary and short term.

This sleep teaching method of empathy is put into play once an infant reaches four months and beyond. The sooner the method of sleep teaching can be started, the easier it will be for both the baby and the parent in the future. This method is proactive in terms of teaching an infant to be self sufficient and to get to sleep unassisted.

It is important to keep in mind that babies cry at bedtime for different reasons. You need to investigate the problem right away as it will not simply go away on its own. Babies cry because they are physically uncomfortable (too warm, too cold, a wet diaper, uncomfortable clothing, a sickness such as an earache or a stomach ache, etc.). Babies also cry because of an inconsistent or non-existent bedtime routine or because they are over tired.  Babies can also cry due to separation anxiety. Learn to put yourself in your baby’s shoes and to show the empathy that your infant needs to grow and learn!