Should I sleep train my baby?

Waking and crying at night is normal baby behaviour (Leach, 2015). It is estimated that 25 to 50 babies in 100 over the age of 6 months wake up during the night (Mindell et al, 2006). Crying is one of the ways that babies communicate and let their caregivers know that they need something (Homestart, no date; NHS, no date).

However, there is often a gap between how much babies cry at night and how much their parents want them to sleep (Basis, 2025 b). Sleep problems and crying are two of the most common difficulties for parents in the first year of their baby’s life (Association of Child Psychotherapists, 2020). Some parents find that understanding about baby sleep can help.

When a baby cries it can make the parent feel overwhelmed and anxious (Homestart, no date). Understandably, when they are exhausted some parents want to look for a way to stop babies waking and crying at night (Basis, 2025 b).

All babies are different. Comparing a baby to another who cries less and seems to sleep better can add to anxiety (NHS, no date). Each baby will have their own pattern of waking and sleeping which is likely to be different from others (NHS, 2025).

What is self-soothing?

Self-soothing means developing emotional self-regulation. For a baby, it is their ability to calm themselves without their parents’ help (Adams et al, 2022; Burnham et al, 2002).

Babies start to show signs of self-soothing from about 6 months. This increases during their first year but babies can still get distressed if they are left to cry (Burnham et al, 2002; Murray, 2014). They continue to need those caring for them to calm them (Middlemiss et al, 2012; NHS, no date).

Waking up at night and needing a carer to soothe them is common in infancy. Older babies learn over time to settle themselves, with caregivers gradually reducing the amount of support provided (Murray, 2014). But babies won’t be able to do that every time. Sometimes they will still need a caregiver’s support (Adams et al, 2022).

Research suggests parents can help babies to self-soothe by (Adams et al, 2022):

• Giving them a dummy
• Singing
• Rubbing/patting them (but not picking them up)
• Gently talking to them to comfort them
• Letting them cry for a short while

Why is sleep training not recommended before 6 months?

Some babies begin to respond to the difference between day and night as their internal body clock develops at around three months. Others will take longer. Their night-time sleep periods get longer but many will still wake and cry several times each night for months (Leach, 2015). Young babies in particular are probably waking up because they need to feed.

Crying, fussing and sleep problems in babies under the age of 6 months are common. They can happen due to a variety of developmental causes. Research shows that sleep training under 6 months does not improve sleep outcome for babies or wellbeing for parents (Basis, 2025 b; Douglas and Hill, 2017).

Sleep training in the early weeks may have unintended outcomes such as (Douglas and Hill, 2017):

• Increased infant crying
• Stopping breastfeeding early
• Increased maternal anxiety

Research has also found that babies who were not picked up when they were crying at 4 weeks old were more likely to suffer from depression at 18 years old (Williams et al, 2016).

What is controlled crying and cry it out?

The idea behind sleep training is that babies can be trained to settle themselves when they wake up at night without the parent, and without crying (Basis, 2025 a; Leach, 2015). Cry it out and controlled crying are two forms of sleep training.

• Cry it out, or the extinction method, means leaving the baby to cry and parents not responding to them at all (Bilgin and Wolke, 2020).
• Controlled crying, or graduated extinction, is when parents do check in on the baby to let them know they’re there. However, they do not respond to the crying or soothe the baby. This is sometimes known as the ‘Ferber’ method after the paediatrician who popularised it (Early Intervention Foundation, 2018; Gradisar et al, 2016; Leach, 2015; Matthey and Črnčec, 2012).

Sleep training and SIDS

Encouraging young babies below the age of 6 months to sleep longer and deeper than is normal for their developmental stage could put them at increased risk of SIDS (Basis, 2025).

Sleep training often involves the baby sleeping in a different room. Sleeping in the same room day and night for the first six months helps protect against SIDS (Basis, 2025 a).

Feeding and sleep training

Breastfeeding a baby at night helps get breastfeeding started, as it encourages the release of hormones that aid milk production. Even if breastfeeding during the day, if no feeds are happening at night then it can cause milk supply to slow (Basis, 2025 a).

Breastmilk contains hormones that can help the breastfeeding mother or parent and baby sleep, such as oxytocin, prolactin and melatonin. It is also more efficient at night as the baby and breastfeeding mother or parent don’t need to be fully awake to feed (Basis, 2025 c).

Breastfeeding for at least two months reduces the risk of SIDS (Thompson et al, 2017).

Some research has shown there is little difference in the amount of sleep and feeding frequency between babies who are formula fed or breastfed after six months (Basis, 2025 c). So, neither way of feeding will settle an older baby more than the other.

Creating a bedtime routine

Before trying sleep training, parents might want to try a consistent bedtime routine. This can reduce crying at night. This might include a bath, a clean nappy and bed clothes, then winding down with a caregiver with a book or lullabies. It helps if this is at a similar time each night (Mindell et al, 2018).

Some research shows that babies with a settled bedtime routine (Early Intervention Foundation; Mindell et al, 2018):

• Had better sleep outcomes
• Fell asleep more quickly
• Woke up less at night
• Slept for longer
• Had less sleep problems reported by parents
• Had less daytime behaviour problems reported by parents

Other strategies that might help the parent get more sleep (Basis, 2025 b):

• Put the baby to bed at the same bedtime as the parent, so both share the first sleep period, which is usually the longest of the night. This doesn’t have to be the ‘baby’s bedtime’ of 7pm, but a time closer to when the parent would go to bed.
• Try not to let the baby to sleep too deeply during daytime naps – don’t make the room too dark or keep everything too quiet.

Is there anything else I need to think about?

The decision to try sleep training is a personal one for every parent. You might feel that the benefits, for both your baby and you, outweigh the worries. Or you might decide that a different approach works better for you. Some research suggests that the best approach is one that is not fixed and adapts to the demands of the baby and parent (Bilgin and Wolke, 2020).

Also keep in mind that some parents might start controlled crying or cry it out and then find it too stressful to continue or that it’s just not working as they’d hoped. We know that any method can work for some babies but not for others.

The good news is that there is a lot of support and information to help you figure out what works for you and your baby. Talk it through with your partner if you have one, family, friends and other parents. Some parents find talking about sleep training options with their health visitor a useful source of information and support.