The Ferber Method: Can it Solve Babies’ Sleeping Problems?

Ranked on top among the greatest challenges of parenthood is putting baby to bed for an adequate period of time at night. Some parents find this easy, as one may overhear “Oh, we just put her on her crib at seven and she goes to bed just like that…”, to the ire of many who usually take plenty of time, and exhaust one too many methods to put the bundle of joy to bed. Lullaby singing, cradling, gentle pats or rubs – putting baby to sleep is, to many, a ritual. The Mayo Clinic tells us that newborns typically sleep sixteen hours a day in phases of hours at a time. A three month old, five hours at a time is common, and by 6 months, long periods of nine-twelve hours of shut eye is a possibility.  

For some parents however, this can present to be a literal waking nightmare, as baby seems reluctant to sleep, and resilient to almost every method. Dr. Richard Ferber, director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at the Children’s Hospital in Boston, has quite the controversial idea in his 1985 book, “Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems”, revised in 2006.  If you’ve seen the film “Meet the Fockers” (2004), Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman’s characters were talking about how best to put a child to bed. Tough Jack Byrnes (De Niro) claims to have used the Ferber method on his grandson, or letting him cry it out till sleep follows, to the horror of Bernie Focker (Hoffman), insisting that “We hugged and kissed that little prince like there was no tomorrow, we Fockerized him”.  Despite the very humorous tone, some points were raised, such as the benefit of constant physical contact. Although Dr. Ferber himself incorporated many techniques, the fundamental idea of “Ferberizing” for babies beginning the sixth month are these:

1. You prepare your baby to sleep, through regular rituals.

2. When it is bedtime, or nap time, the parent/s leave the room.

3. The parent may return at gradually increasing intervals (such as 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes) to “comfort” the baby without carrying him or her.4. This process is repeated until baby falls asleep well on his own.

 

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For the Filipino culture where coddling is the norm, this method may seem extremely abrasive. After all, mammals are designed by nature to carry their young. The concept of letting baby “cry it out” and “progressive waiting” (as defined in #3 above), is quite harsh, but a mild-mannered Dr. Ferber, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, acknowledges in a CBS TV interview that crying is indeed “painful for anyone to listen to and to have a baby that cries at night is very sad”, and that his true goal is to “eliminate the crying and not to cause it”.  Note that co-sleeping is allowed in this system.

Proponents of the Ferber Method insist on its effectiveness, and deny that their children suffer from any form of psychological trauma. Despite all the sensible, well-studied ideology, many insist that the lack of physical bond, especially when an infant may be feeling afraid and vulnerable, may be damaging. Dr. Margot Sunderland, Director of the Centre for Child Mental Health in the UK, a renowned Child

Psychologist and award winning author is vehemently against this method. In her book “The Science of Parenting,” she cites several studies which reveal that repeated crying without comfort may result in less than optimal brain development.

Dr. Linda Markham, a Clinical Psychologist with a Ph.D. from Columbia University asserts that in the Ferber method, your baby learns that you are not to be depended on, and by you not being there when she needs you the most makes baby perceive the world as “a cold and lonely place”. She notes that Dr. Richard Ferber, despite his credentials, has no psychological training. Dr. Markham also reminds us that this method may create sleep-deprived mothers and fathers as well, which result into less effective parenting.

Meanwhile, many parents, such as those in forums like Circle of Moms (circleofmoms.com) openly support “Ferberizing”, as well as several doctors and psychologists. But is this method for you? Unfortunately there is no study made on the long term effects of this method, so your best bet is to read the entire book and make your own informed decisions.

 

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Popular Dr. William Sears, a graduate of Harvard University and of the Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto (the largest children’s hospital in the world), and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) outlines several alternatives on his website (askdrsears.com) some of which are:

1. Keeping an open mind and staying flexible with regard to methods.  Be instinctive.

2. Allow for optimal conditions to naturally induce sleep such as finding out where baby sleeps best.

3. Create comfortable transitions: cradling, rocking and singing.4. Setting a proper sleep schedule.5. “Driving Down”, or driving around with baby in a car seat until he or she falls asleep.  (on a personal note, this has worked for me, and is worth every bit of fuel!)6. Lessening of physical discomforts:  clear breathing, comfortable diapers, etc.

There are a host of other methods, but it is always best to tune into your child, get good ground, and discover the best way on your own. If you wish to try the Feber Method, or any other seemingly “against the flow” styles, always discuss this with your pediatrician first. Despite Dr. Richard Feber’s daunting list of credentials, you are your child’s foremost expert on his or her care.

Photo by cscott2006  via flickr creative commons