Cry it out

What It Means

Cry it out is a sleep trainingSleep trainingTeaching a baby to fall asleep on their own, both at bedtime and after waking in the night, using a planned, consistent method. See more method in which a baby is put to bed awake and left to fall asleep without being comforted during the night. Sleep specialists call it extinction, or unmodified extinction, and Cleveland Clinic describes it as the approach that asks caregivers not to comfort the child at all overnight. The Ferber methodFerber methodA sleep training method, also called graduated extinction, where parents check on a crying baby at timed intervals that lengthen over time. See more is a softer version with timed check-ins, known as graduated extinction.

How Parents Say It

• "We just let him cry it out."
• "Night two of CIO and she was asleep in ten minutes."
• "I couldn't do cry it out, so we tried Ferber."

The Breakdown

By age

How it runs

1. Do the bedtime routineBedtime routineThe same short series of calm steps a child goes through each night before sleep, such as brushing teeth, reading a book and lights out at a set time. See more and lay your baby down drowsy but awakeDrowsy but awakeLaying a baby down in the crib when they're sleepy but still awake, so they practice falling asleep on their own. See more.
2. Say goodnight and leave the room.
3. Don't go back in to comfort, except for a feed, a dirty diaper or a baby who is sick.
4. Keep the same bedtime and routine every night.

When to talk to the doctor. Ask your pediatrician before you start if you're unsure your baby is ready or no longer needs night feeds, and call if the crying sounds different from usual or your baby seems unwell.

Good to Know

HealthyChildren.org, the AAP's site for parents, says many babies can't fall asleep without some crying and settle sooner if left to cry, and that the crying shouldn't last long if the baby is truly tired. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine calls graduated extinction, the Ferber version with check-ins, an effective and recommended treatment for bedtime problems and night wakings. A 2016 trial in Pediatrics found graduated extinction caused no adverse stress responses or long-term effects on attachment. Whatever the method, keep the AAP's safe sleepSafe sleepThe AAP's rules for lowering the risk of SIDS and suffocation: baby on the back, alone, on a firm flat surface in their own sleep space, every sleep. See more rules: on the back, alone, on a firm, flat surface with only a fitted sheet.

Related Terms and Categories

• Sleep training

  Teaching a baby to fall asleep on their own, both at bedtime and after waking in the night, using a planned, consistent method.

• Ferber method

  A sleep training method, also called graduated extinction, where parents check on a crying baby at timed intervals that lengthen over time.

• Gentle sleep training

  Everyday name for sleep training methods that keep a parent close or step back slowly, such as the chair method or pick up, put down.

• Drowsy but awake

  Laying a baby down in the crib when they're sleepy but still awake, so they practice falling asleep on their own.

• Safe sleep

  The AAP's rules for lowering the risk of SIDS and suffocation: baby on the back, alone, on a firm flat surface in their own sleep space, every sleep.

• Chair method

  A gradual sleep training method where a parent sits in a chair by the crib until the baby falls asleep, moving it farther away every few nights.

Baby and toddler