i had the very same problem with my first two sons and then along came number three to keep me up most the night and i thought no way am i going to go down this road again controlled crying is an old way of getting little ones to sleep studys have now shown that once you have left the room babies are crying because you are not there not because they dont want to sleep and makes for a really hard time for both you and baby this is how we over came sleep time with nunber three and in four night he slept from 7.30pm right through to 7.00am

so night one tell him it's time for sleep at 7.30 place him in his cot wrapped or not thats up to you and sit by the cot where he can see you untill he falls asleep no eye contact no talking to him at all except no it's time for sleep when he wakes during the night  give him a feed a  change  if he needs it and repeat the steps sit untill he's asleep

good luck hope it works

Hi have you thought of using a muslin wrap so that he fees secure.  My eldest was the perfect baby for the first 6 weeks then he completely changed I thought someone had switched babies on me.  I ended up at tresillian and they gave really good advice.  I wrapped him and had no more worries.  I have since done the same with my last 2 and have had no problems.  Hope this helps.

The thing to remember is all babies and all parents are different. You need to find what out what you're happy and comfortable doing. If you are happy to cuddle your baby then do it, there is nothing wrong with it even though just about all community nurses will tell you it is. But if you aren't happy rocking your baby then you may need to find a settling technique that your happy with. Controlled crying shouldn't be done until after the baby is 6 months old but there are other methods. My oldest was a terrible sleeper and up until he was 8 months old i was happy to rock him and cuddle him to sleep but it ended up getting too much for me and i tried to controlled crying method at home but i just found it too hard, so i took him to Tresillian where they have Midwives teach you how to do it and are there to support you do the whole time. He is now a wonderful sleeper.   Good Luck!!!

I don't agree with the "controlled crying" method.  I for one would immediately run to my child if ever she was upset and crying, even now. Having said that though, she is extremely independent and has been sleeping all night every night from the very first night she was on this planet, unless something out of the ordinary happened to interrupt it like illness or loud noises that were unusual.  She is only 3 and a half now, and she was going to bed by herself at around 6:30 from the time she was just 2, telling me she's going to bed then off to bed she would go.  It doesn't last long and there are alternative ways of doing things. We co-slept for a long time, but when she wanted to move to her bed she did without a hassle.  I would do it again if I have another child. No regrets here! I didn't have to listen to her screaming for hours on end, which to me goes against the very nature of being a mother, and she had her mum who she knew she could rely on to be with her every second that she needed. That's the recipe for a healthy mother-child relationship. Trust. She can trust I will not leave her.  I don't mean to offend anyone, but that's the way we do things here and there she has never been a screaming grizzling baby or child.  So that is my testimony. It worked and continues to work.

Here is a Minti article detailing information on this topic :) hope it helps...

http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/30/Controlled-Crying-and-Settling-Techniques/

From what I've read, teaching to sleep is pretty much pointless until about the age of 6 months anyway. Many will probably disagree with me though. Up until this age bubs main aim is to be held and fed - basically to feel warm and cozy and full. I think to a large extent it depends on the babies temprement. I never managed to get my little boy to go to sleep without assistance until he was 10 months old. By this stage he was starting to get more demanding with feeding during the night so we decided to start controlled crying. At 10 months he defiintely understood what we were doing. It took 7 days  of being committed, calm and consistent to finally achieve the end product. It was definitely worth it though. I suggest you ease off for a bit and try when he's over 6 months old. Also, this time is so short that I'm of the opinion of what's wrong with a little rocking and cuddling to get him to sleep, when he gets older cuddles just won't be 'cool' anymore.

Good luck

This is what I did and it worked, no crying. I did as you said, let her fall asleep in my arms, but slowly shortened the time I did this. Say, she falls asleep, I hold her for 10 minutes then put her to bed. Did that for a few days, then shortened it to 5 minutes and so on, until I got to the point where I could put her to bed awake. I also bought the ocean wonders aquarium toy that has a night light and sings for 5 minutes, so I put her in the bed sleepy and she watched that until she dozed off. Another thing I did was let her play in the bed some. So she knows it is a fun place. A few times a day I would put her in there with toys, and we would play. Another thing you can do is put him in there sleepy but not asleep and try to calm him but not pick him up. If he cries pick him up but when he settles down, put him in the bed. You could also (this is going to sound NUTS but it worked for me) get in the bed with him. I did this one night when NOTHING else worked and she didn't make a peep until the next morning. If he seems to not favor a favorite blanket or toy, I would pick one (we use a ducky) and sleep with it for about a week and then give it to him every time he goes to bed. Do you have a naptime routine and bedtime routine in place? E-mail me with any questions, we have been through HELL and gotten her to sleep without crying. I would also recommend Elizabeth Pantly's book The No Cry Sleep Solution.