How early can I begin "sleep training"

I am looking for opinions on how early I can begin "sleep training" a la Weisbluth for my DS. My DD was an extremely fussy, difficult baby that became a dream girl at 7 months when we finally decided to let her CIO. My DS ( now almost 7 weeks) has been waking up every time we lay him down. I know he is tired, I know he would much rather sleep with me, but I sleep much better alone and am better prepared to take on the challenges of 2 under the age of 2 when I am more well rested!!. Thank you in advance for the replies

Even Dr Ferber, who wrote "the book" on sleep training doesn't recommend doing it to your baby before they reach 6 months. It can be harmful for a younger baby. Some of them that had it too young even show signs of depression or will start to shut down. I would definately not do it at this point.

In my psych class, we learned about how babies at that age are learning to trust. If you don't respond to your baby's crying now, you teach them not to bother because no one is going to meet their needs.

And for my personal experience, at 7 weeks, my baby was still sleeping on my lap or next to me. I would sleep best alone, but I sleep better without an unhappy crying baby.

Thanks for your response. Since writing this question, DS is acutally sleeping in a crib/basinette much better. It still takes him a long time to settle, but as long as we are both getting a bit more sleep, I feel like I can take on the world-- or at least get a shower in!!! Thanks for your helpful info.

Glad to see your post as I am having this exact problem with my 7 week old ds (11/15/03). He sleeps well in my arms or next to me in my bed but will rarely sleep alone. He was actually doing better in his bed a couple of weeks ago! Maybe it is something developmental at this age?

In the book by doctor ferber that I read it says that by four months babies are mature enough to fall asleep on their own and we started by that time, it worked great and it's been working since then.

This is an old thread. Locking.