Did/does anyone not follow sleep training?

[Namechangegardens]

My 10 week old is obviously approaching key sleep training stage age-wise. I've been blessed with a pretty good sleeper and though bedtime is unpredictable and sometimes takes ages, once down he's great.

I wonder if anyone has chosen to be baby led in terms of sleep habits, instead of following sleep training? I got all motivated and bought "precious little sleep" book, however am already so not keen for the regimental plans it describes.

Do I really need to be home by 6pm every day to start the bedtime process? What about when he's older and I won't won't be picking him up till 6pm?!

What I want to know is whether I will regret not doing sleep training or whether its worth the freedom sacrifice.

TIA

My first baby was a terrible sleeper and we didn't sleep train. We had a bedtime routine though and kept things quiet and dark at night. She slept through at 11 months. Then stopped at 2 years and slept through again from 3 years

This baby is a better sleeper but I am tempted to sleep train if there are issues as it seems to work well for other people.

When DS shows signs of tiredness I feed him to sleep. If I’m at work then DH takes him for a drive. Sometimes he moans a bit in the car before he falls asleep.

He’s fairly good at night, he still needs 1-2 night feeds but he doesn’t take much milk when I’m at work so if he did sleep through the night then I’d be worried.

Thank you for all the responses, so useful to read others experience. The fact I don't know the difference between sleep training and routine shows how little my knowledge is! I did mean developing bedtime routine. My friend raves about that book and she started a routine from day 1, obviously suits her personality but not mine.

Like some others, I just feel a but uncomfortable at the thought of a regimented routine at this stage and am glad to hear others have had success with baby led routine - I will be sticking to that for now!

I was completely child led when it came to my daughter and sleep. I accepted that small children won't necessarily sleep through the night and did what was necessary to get enough sleep. We bed shared until 8 months, then we had a mattress on the floor in her room and I would go and lie with her if she woke in the night (I ebf, so partner didn't take a turn until she stopped night feeds). When she woke at around 6 in the morning my partner would take her for breakfast and look after her until 8 when he went to work while I had a bit of catch up sleep. She slept through the night for the first time when she was 2yrs old. Ever since then she's been a sound sleeper.

@Namechangegardens

Thank you for all the responses, so useful to read others experience. The fact I don't know the difference between sleep training and routine shows how little my knowledge is! I did mean developing bedtime routine. My friend raves about that book and she started a routine from day 1, obviously suits her personality but not mine.

Like some others, I just feel a but uncomfortable at the thought of a regimented routine at this stage and am glad to hear others have had success with baby led routine - I will be sticking to that for now!

So the thing is that some babies really want a regimented routine and so doing that is being baby led.

I think there is also a difference between being baby/child led in terms of, say, noticing that your child likes a certain bedtime and sleeps most restfully when that happens and just not having a routine and getting the child to fit in with your preferences because you don't want to be tied to a certain schedule, the latter isn't child led any more than forcing a 7pm bedtime on a baby that prefers 6 or 8 is

@Classicblunder agree completely!