The cry it out method

Cry it out means saying goodnight after the bedtime routine and not going back in until the morning or a planned feed. It is the simplest method to describe and the hardest to listen to.

What is the cry it out method?

Researchers call it unmodified extinction. In the review written for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine it is defined as putting the child to bed at a set time and not responding until a set time the next morning, while still watching for illness or injury.

It is different from the Ferber method, where you go back in for short checks at set times.

How to do it

1. Make sure your baby is fed, has a clean diaper and that the crib is safe.
2. Finish the bedtime routine, put your baby in the crib drowsy but awake, say goodnight and leave the room.
3. Do not go back in until a planned feed or the morning, unless you think your baby is ill, hurt or unsafe. Watch on a monitor if you have one.
4. Do the same at night wakings that are not planned feeds.
5. In the morning, go in at wake-up time with the lights on and a happy voice, so the start of the day is clear.

What age can you start?

No medical body sets an age. The published trials of sleep training enrolled babies of 6 months and older, and a review of the research found no benefit from sleep training in the first 6 months. Our plans offer this method from 6 months.

Babies under 4 months should not be left to cry. They still need to feed at night.

What to expect

• The first nights can bring a lot of crying. It is the hardest method to listen to.
• Crying often comes back for a night or two after it had stopped. Researchers call this a post-extinction burst. It is a known pattern, not a sign that the method failed.
• A Cleveland Clinic pediatrician says it may take a night or two for a baby to learn they can do it on their own, and that it should improve quickly after that. That is one doctor's experience, not a study result, and some babies take longer.
• Do the same thing every night. If nothing is better after a week, stop and talk to your pediatrician.

Does it work, and is it safe?

The 2006 review for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine counted 19 studies of this method, with 552 children. 17 of them found it effective. The review names two drawbacks: it is stressful for parents, and crying can briefly return after it had stopped.

On harm, the evidence is thin in both directions. One 2012 study of 25 babies found that their stress hormone stayed raised on the third night although the crying had stopped. It was small and had no comparison group. A 2016 randomized trial of 43 babies found no raised stress hormone and no difference in attachment a year later, and it was too small to rule out small harms. A follow-up of a larger trial at age 6 found no lasting effects, good or bad.

So claims that cry it out damages babies and claims that it is proven harmless both go further than the research does.

If you do not want to leave your baby to cry

There are two other well-known approaches. With timed checks (the Ferber method) you go back in at set times. With the stay-in-the-room method, often called camping out or the chair method, you sit by the crib and move further away every few nights. You can choose either one in your plan.

Related guides

• The Ferber method and chart
• When to start sleep training
• Sleep schedules by age

Sources

• Mindell JA, et al. Behavioral treatment of bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children. Sleep, 2006 (review for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine).
• Morgenthaler TI, et al. Practice parameters for behavioral treatment of bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children. Sleep, 2006.
• Cleveland Clinic. When and How To Sleep Train Your Baby. January 2025.
• Douglas PS, Hill PS. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 2013 (systematic review, first 6 months).
• Gradisar M, et al. Pediatrics, 2016 (randomized trial, 43 babies of 6 to 16 months).
• Price AM, et al. Pediatrics, 2012 (follow-up at age 6 of a randomized trial).
• Middlemiss W, et al. Early Human Development, 2012 (25 mothers and babies).

General information for parents, not medical advice. Independent, not affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics or any medical body. Talk to your pediatrician about your baby's health.