Michael’s case
Since Michael falls asleep at 10 p.m., he should be put to bed 10–15 minutes earlier every night, so he can gradually get accustomed to falling asleep between 7:30–8 p.m.
The first night: Michael’s parents applied the 5-10-15 method, he still woke up every three hours to be fed. I suggest gradually decreasing feeding time by 3–5 minutes every night. However, since Michael’s mother is trying to teach him to fall asleep on his own, she’ll wait five minutes before checking in on him the first time, in case he falls back asleep.
It’s only on her second visit that she’ll feed him for 10 minutes instead of 15. Also, as soon as he seems to slow down and become sleepy, she’ll put him back in his crib with his little blanket and his teddy bear by his side.
Michael cries even more, but then he surprises his mom because he’s already fallen asleep after crying for 10 minutes—she won’t have to go back into his room.
Of course, he wakes up two more times during the night and she uses the same technique: she waits for five minutes, comforts him, waits 10 minutes and feeds him a little less. For Michael, it was much easier than his mother feared because he fell asleep quickly after his second feeding, around 4 a.m.
In the morning, at 6:30 a.m., he wakes up in his own bed in a good mood. Mom doesn’t rush in but instead, waits until he gets a bit impatient. She breastfeeds only at 7 a.m., the time she would like him to wake up every morning.
As the nights go by, a new schedule will be established. Michael will wake up later because he won’t be hungry beforehand and he’ll eat cereal around 7:30 a.m.
During the day, his mother will try to put him back to bed two hours after he wakes up, around 8:30 a.m. It’s also around that time that she’ll notice him becoming grumpy and yawning. Because he was already fed around 7 p.m., she’ll put him to bed without breastfeeding him, using the same combo as the night before, 5-10-15 plus comforting objects. Alternating between naps and feedings every four hours is recommended in the daytime.
Here’s an example of an ideal schedule:
- 7:30 a.m.: Wake up, breastfeeding/bottle-feeding or meal
- 9:30 a.m.: Nap
- 11:30 a.m.–noon: Breastfeeding/bottle-feeding or meal
- 1:30 p.m.: Nap
- 3:30–4 p.m.: Breastfeeding/bottle-feeding
- 5 p.m.: Meal (if necessary)
- 5:30 p.m.: Short nap (until six months)
- 7:30-8 p.m.: Breastfeeding/bottle-feeding and nap
- 9 p.m.: If your baby is napping, put him to bed later
The second night: Michael is put to bed 10 minutes earlier, but this time, it’s his father who enters the room every 10, 15 and 20 minutes. Michael’s parents notice that he cries less when he hears his father’s deeper voice and actually falls asleep after only two visits.
Throughout the night, his mother waits 10 minutes and then 15 before offering milk to her baby, but surprisingly, he falls straight back to sleep before being fed. The first feeding of the night has now been eliminated. For the following feedings, Michael’s mother makes sure to cut feeding time down to five minutes and puts her son back into his crib. Michael now manages to fall asleep 10 minutes later. Michael wakes up the next morning at 6:30 a.m. and day two goes by with less crying and longer naps (one hour at 8:30 a.m. and one at 12:30 p.m.). Michael’s mother manages to reduce the 5 p.m. nap to 30 minutes by gently talking to her son to wake him up.
The third night: Michael didn’t sleep much during his 4:30 p.m. nap, meaning he was grumpy and tired much earlier than usual. His parents decide to start the bedtime routine at 7:30 p.m. with Michael’s dad putting him to bed around 8:30 p.m.
Baby Michael cries and hugs his stuffed animal for 15 minutes before falling asleep. That night, Michael wakes up a couple times, but very briefly and without the need of parental intervention. At 5 a.m., he wakes up and is unable to fall back to sleep. His mom walks in to reassure him after 15 minutes and waits another 20 before going back in to breastfeed, which is brief. Michael quickly falls back to sleep after 10 minutes and wakes up for the last time at 7 a.m.
Subsequent nights: Michael goes to sleep quickly, crying only a few times here and there, and doesn’t wake up until 7:30 a.m. His mom hears little cries throughout the night, but doesn’t go into his bedroom.
Once the new sleep routine is established, it’s recommended to wait at least 15 minutes before intervening when your child wakes up crying. With time, naps will last longer and your baby’s crying will become less frequent. Michael’s mother finds that her baby is now in a much better mood throughout the day and is much less irritable.
As we can see from Michael’s example, the 5-10-15 method should work in approximately 3–4 days.
