Baby Sleep Training Methods Compared, With Age and Safety Limits
Sleep training teaches a baby to settle without feeding or rocking, and a 2012 trial tested a version of it at 8 to 10 months. The methods differ in how close you stay and how fast you step back, the safe-sleep rules never change, and some babies are not ready to try any of them.
The short version
- What it is: Helping a baby learn to settle and fall asleep without being fed or rocked off to sleep.
- Age the evidence covers: The trial delivered its techniques at 8 to 10 months. Ask your doctor or health visitor before starting with a younger baby.
- Five-year result: The authors concluded there were no marked long-lasting effects, positive or negative.
- Rule of thumb: Pick one plan, keep it for about a week, and write down what happened each night.
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What are the main sleep training methods?
Most methods belong to a few families. They differ in whether you stay in the room, how often you check, and how quickly you reduce the help you give. These are descriptions, not instructions, and each family can be done gently or firmly.
| Method | What the parent does | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Gradual withdrawal | Stays in the room and steps back a little more each night | Slow, with many small steps to track |
| Check and console | Returns at set times to reassure without picking the baby up | Needs steady timing, and each visit is a choice |
| Fading | Reduces a sleep prop such as rocking or feeding to sleep | Gradual, so it takes patience |
| Cry-it-out | Puts the baby down awake after a bedtime routine and leaves the room | The hardest to sit through for many parents |
What did the 2012 trial actually show?
A 2012 randomized trial delivered behavioural sleep techniques through one to three individual nurse consultations, when the babies were 8 to 10 months old. Families who received the intervention were compared with families who had usual care. The five-year results show sleep problems in 9% of the intervention children and 7% of the control children, and the authors concluded that behavioural sleep techniques have no marked long-lasting effects, positive or negative.
Across the groups, the paper gives no evidence of differences on any outcome. That is reassuring about harm, but it is not evidence that training gives a lasting gain in sleep. It is one trial of one approach at one age, and a single trial cannot answer every family’s question.
What age is sleep training for?
| Age band | What changes |
|---|---|
| Under 6 months | Training is not the focus here, night feeds may still be needed, and the safe-sleep rules apply in full |
| 6 to 12 months | The trial’s techniques were delivered at 8 to 10 months, and teething or illness can change the timing |
| 1 to 3 years | Consistency matters most, and the daily plan is in the toddler routine guide |
| 3 to 6 years | Sleep training as described here is written for babies, so a bedtime routine is the better starting point |
| Over 6 years | Outside this guide, and the bedtime routine guide is the better place to start |
The daily plan for toddlers is in the toddler routine guide, and the kids bedtime reset covers bedtime routines for children.
When is the right time to wait?
Waiting is a legitimate choice. Hold off when your baby is unwell, teething badly, not feeding well, has recently moved house or changed carers, or is travelling. If your baby is younger than the age your doctor or health visitor names, wait for their advice, because the trial’s techniques were delivered at 8 to 10 months. If your baby is also settling badly because of colic or reflux, the calming routine guide comes first. For the usual sleep pattern by month, see the baby sleep schedule guide.
How do you start a plan without losing sleep yourself?
- Check the baby is well. No fever, no active illness, and feeds going well. A temperature of 38C or higher in a baby under 3 months needs urgent advice from NHS 111, not a training plan.
- Confirm the sleep set-up. On the back, in a bare cot on a firm, non-inclined mattress, with the cot in your room rather than your bed.
- Choose one method and write it in three lines. Say what you will do at bedtime, what you will do if the baby wakes, and when you will stop for the night.
- Use the same steps every night. Keep the bedtime and the steps the same, and give every carer the same three lines.
- Track each night for about a week. Note the settling time, any wake-ups, and any night the plan broke, then decide whether to continue.
Insider tip: the 2 a.m. agreement
Agree on the three-line plan before the first night, and show it to the other carer in writing. A plan on paper is far easier to follow at 2 a.m. than a verbal agreement made when everyone is tired. Switching methods night to night makes it hard to tell what is working, so give one plan a fair week first.
What safe-sleep rules never change?
Whatever method you choose, the safe-sleep rules stay the same. The 2022 updated recommendations in Pediatrics describe supine positioning, a firm non-inclined sleep surface, and room-sharing without bed-sharing. In practice that means the baby sleeps on the back, on a flat, firm mattress in a bare cot, and the cot sits in your room rather than your bed. Nothing soft goes in the sleep space. A baby is never propped or tilted on books or cushions, whatever the cold or the reflux, and is held upright while awake instead.
Call 999 now if your baby has blue, grey or paler than usual lips or skin, is breathing very fast or grunting, has difficulty breathing with their stomach sucking under the ribcage, has a first fit they cannot stop shaking through, is drowsy and hard to wake, or is extremely agitated and does not stop crying. Call NHS 111 at once for a temperature of 38C or higher in a baby under 3 months. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111 if the soft spot on the head sinks in, your baby has few or no tears when crying, or has fewer wet nappies than usual. Any sign of pain also needs a doctor’s view before any sleep plan starts.
The bottom line
Sleep training is a set of gentle or firm ways to help a baby settle alone. The five-year results from the 2012 study show no clear lasting effect, which is reassuring on harm but not proof of lasting gain. Start only when your baby is well and old enough for your doctor’s advice, keep the safe-sleep rules, and pick one plan you can repeat. Rule of thumb: one plan, about a week, and a written record. More guides sit in Sleep & Relaxation.
Questions about baby sleep training, answered
What is the best sleep training method?
No single method is shown to be best. The 2012 trial used behavioural techniques delivered by nurses, and the right method is usually the one your household can keep up every night.
At what age can you start sleep training?
The trial’s techniques were delivered at 8 to 10 months, which is the age band the evidence here covers. Ask your doctor or health visitor for the right time for your baby, especially before starting with a younger one.
Is cry it out safe for babies?
The five-year results found no differences between the groups on any outcome, but the trial’s abstract does not single out cry-it-out as the technique tested, so that result cannot be read as a verdict on the method. Judge it by your baby’s health and your own limits, and check with your health visitor or doctor first.
How long does sleep training take?
The sources here give no reliable number of nights, so judge one plan over about a week and write down what happened each night.
Should I stop night feeds for sleep training?
Check with your health visitor or doctor before cutting any feed, especially in the early months, when night feeds may still be needed.
Do the safe-sleep rules still apply during sleep training?
Yes. Whatever method you use, the 2022 Pediatrics recommendations still apply: the baby sleeps on the back, on a firm non-inclined surface, with room-sharing but not bed-sharing, and nothing soft in the sleep space.
What if my baby is sick or teething?
Usually wait until the illness or teething has passed, because an unwell baby needs comfort first. A temperature of 38C or higher in a baby under 3 months is a reason to call NHS 111 at once, not a training question.
What if my partner or in-laws want a different method?
Agree on one plan in writing before the first night, so every carer responds the same way. A written plan is easier to keep to than a verbal agreement made at 2 a.m.
When should I see a doctor about my baby’s sleep?
Call 999 now for blue, grey or paler than usual lips or skin, very fast or grunting breathing, a first fit they cannot stop shaking through, or a baby who is drowsy and hard to wake. Call NHS 111 at once for a temperature of 38C or higher in a baby under 3 months, or ask for an urgent GP appointment if the soft spot on the head sinks in, there are few or no tears, or there are fewer wet nappies than usual.
Sources
- PubMed (NCBI): Five-year follow-up of harms and benefits of behavioral infant sleep intervention: randomized trial (Price et al., Pediatrics, 2012)
- PubMed (NCBI): Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2022 Recommendations for Reducing Infant Deaths in the Sleep Environment (Moon et al., Pediatrics, 2022)
- NHS: Fever in children
- NHS: Dehydration