Sleep training means using a planned, consistent approach to help your baby fall asleep with less help from you. The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne (RCH) says frequent night waking is normal under 6 months and that "there is no evidence that behavioural sleep interventions help babies under six months". From 6 months, the RACGP's controlled crying FAQ recommends techniques such as controlled comforting for healthy babies. Trials in Australian families found no long-term harm, but none has shown that one method is best.
This page compares every popular approach so you can see where each sits. Each method has its own step-by-step guide, linked in the table below.
What is sleep training, and what isn't it?
Sleep training is a deliberate plan to change how your baby falls asleep, usually by gradually reducing the help they get from you, such as feeding, rocking or patting to sleep. It is a choice, not a requirement.
The RCH's Community Paediatric Review on sleep describes two parenting styles on a spectrum. At one end, "intuitive parenting" reads your baby's cues and keeps comforting them to sleep for as long as they need. At the other, "infant behaviour management" works on reducing sleep associations and giving your baby chances to settle themselves. Many families sit somewhere in between, and the review notes there is no one "right" way, as long as sleep is safe.
Settling a newborn is not sleep training. Approaches like responsive settling, feeding or rocking to sleep and the 5 S's are ways to comfort a young baby. None of them is a programme to reduce night waking in the early months.
What age can you start sleep training?
Most Australian sources point to around 6 months as the earliest time for structured techniques. Here is what each source we checked says.
| Age | What sources say |
|---|---|
| Under 3 months | The RACGP says babies this young are not expected to settle themselves. Respond to hunger, tiredness and overstimulation. |
| 3 to 6 months | The RACGP suggests a bedtime routine and putting your baby down drowsy but awake, without leaving them to cry for more than a couple of minutes. The AAP suggests putting babies 4 months and older to bed drowsy. |
| 6 months and over | The RACGP recommends techniques like controlled crying from 6 months. The RCH names controlled comforting and camping out as evidence-based options. |
| 12 months and over | NSW Health describes gradual withdrawal for moving to a bed and learning to fall asleep alone. |
The AAP's guide to getting your baby to sleep says babies do not have regular sleep cycles until about 4 months, and that from 4 months it helps to put them down drowsy rather than asleep. If your baby was born early, ask your GP or child-health nurse whether to go by their corrected age.
Which sleep training methods are there?
This table lists every method in our library. "Planned crying" describes how much protest the method expects you to allow, not how much a particular baby will cry.
| Method | What it is | Typical age | Planned crying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cry it out (extinction) | Settle, say goodnight and don't go back in | Not before 6 months | Most; no return visits |
| Check and console (Ferber, controlled comforting) | Leave, then return for brief checks at set, lengthening intervals | From 6 months | Some, with regular checks |
| Gradual retreat (camping out, chair method) | Stay in the room and move further away every few nights | From about 6 months | Some protest, with you there |
| Pick up, put down | Pick up to calm, put back in the cot awake, repeat | No set age in guidance | Little; you respond each time |
| Shush-pat | Rhythmic shushing and patting in the cot | From birth (hands-on settling) | Little |
| Bedtime fading | Bedtime set later, when your baby is sleepy, then moved earlier | Trialled at 6 to 16 months | None planned |
| Responsive settling | Comfort in arms or the cot, responding every time | From birth (settling, not training) | None planned |
| Possum sleep method | Cue-based care that supports your baby's natural sleep regulation | First year | None planned |
| Wake to sleep | Gently stirring a sleeping baby before an expected waking | No set age in guidance | None planned |
| Drowsy but awake | Putting your baby in the cot calm and sleepy, not asleep | From about 4 months (AAP) | Little |
| Feeding or rocking to sleep | Baby falls asleep feeding or in arms, then goes in the cot | Any age | None |
| The 5 S's | Swaddle, side hold (awake only), shush, swing, suck | Young babies | Soothing, not training |
| Eat-play-sleep rhythm | A loose daytime pattern of feed, play, then sleep | Any age, loosely | Not a settling method |
A few notes on the table. The RACGP says controlled crying is different from extinction, where "the caregiver never goes back into the bedroom", and that the Infant Sleep eLearning programme it links to does not recommend extinction. NSW Health's sleep and responsive settling page describes settling in arms from birth, hands-on settling (shushing and patting) from 0 to 6 months and older, and comfort settling and parental presence from 6 months. The Possums programme is described by its researchers as a "cued-care" approach for the first year that aims to support a baby's biological sleep regulators (Ball et al., 2018).
What does the research say about sleep training?
The strongest evidence comes from Australian randomised trials of healthy babies over 6 months.
- Gradisar and colleagues (2016). This trial randomised 43 babies aged 6 to 16 months to graduated extinction (timed checks), bedtime fading or sleep education (PubMed record). Both techniques shortened the time babies took to fall asleep, and graduated extinction also reduced night wakings. Infant cortisol (a stress marker) fell modestly, and 12 months later there were no differences in emotional or behavioural problems or attachment.
- Price and colleagues (2012). This five-year follow-up included 225 families whose babies had sleep problems at 7 months (PubMed record). Families in the intervention group had one to three nurse consultations at 8 to 10 months about controlled comforting or camping out. At age 6 there were no differences in emotional or conduct problems, sleep, stress, the parent–child relationship or maternal mental health. The authors concluded the techniques had no marked long-lasting effects, positive or negative.
What the research doesn't tell you matters too. The RACGP notes there have been no head-to-head trials comparing controlled crying with attachment parenting, so neither can be called better. The trials did not test newborns, and research on cue-based programmes like Possums has so far mostly reported parents' own views rather than controlled outcomes.
When is it not the right time to sleep train?
Hold off, or talk to your GP or child-health nurse first, if:
- your baby is under 6 months (or under 6 months corrected age if born early)
- your baby is unwell, teething badly or recovering from illness; the RCH says it is fine to pause during illness and pick up again later
- there are any worries about feeding, weight gain or growth, or you're not sure whether your baby still needs night feeds (see night weaning)
- your baby snores or seems to pause when breathing in sleep, which the RCH says needs a doctor's review; book this soon rather than waiting for a routine check
- a big change is coming up, such as a move, travel or starting childcare; the RACGP suggests starting when you have a few clear nights with no major commitments
- you are feeling very low, anxious or unable to cope, in which case your own support comes first
If your baby is struggling to breathe, turns blue or grey, or is floppy or hard to wake, call your local emergency number (000 in Australia, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US) now. The AAP sleep apnoea guide also says to call an ambulance if breathing stops for more than 20 seconds.
How do you keep any method safe?
Every method in the table sits on the same safe-sleep basics. The AAP's safe sleep guidance says:
- put your baby on their back for every sleep, naps and night, until 1 year
- use a firm, flat, non-inclined surface in their own cot or bassinet
- keep pillows, quilts, bumpers and soft toys out of the cot, and don't use weighted swaddles, sleeping bags or blankets
- share a room, but not a bed, for at least 6 months; the NHS gives the same at-least-6-months advice
- keep your home and car smoke-free
Settling methods change how you respond to ordinary protest. They never mean ignoring pain, illness, hunger in a baby who still needs night feeds, or a cry that sounds different. If frustration builds, the Victorian Government factsheet suggests putting your baby in the cot where they can cry safely and taking a 3 to 5 minute break. Never shake a baby.
How do you choose an approach that fits your family?
Consistency matters more than the label. These questions can help:
- How much crying can you stay calm through? If you can't bear to leave the room, gradual retreat or responsive settling may suit you better than timed checks.
- How does your baby react when you leave? The RACGP says camping out may suit babies who are more anxious, while adult presence works less well for babies who get angry seeing a parent who isn't picking them up.
- How long can you commit? The RACGP says controlled crying takes around five to seven nights. The Victorian factsheet says camping out might take 1 to 3 weeks, with each step taking 2 to 3 days.
- Do all the adults agree? The RCH suggests sharing strategies between co-parents so your baby gets the same response.
- What will you do if it isn't working? The RACGP says to seek professional advice if there is no improvement after five to seven nights, and that you can stop at any time.
A predictable bedtime routine supports every method, and it helps to rule out an overtired baby or a schedule mismatch first (see wake windows).
Where can you get help with your baby's sleep?
Your GP or child-health nurse can check your baby's health and feeding, help you choose an approach and adjust it as you go. The RCH says a maternal and child health nurse can also help you find a sleep school, sleep consultant or early parenting centre if you need more support.
For a listening ear or practical parenting advice, contact a parenting support service (Tresillian or Karitane in Australia, your health visitor in the UK, your pediatrician's office in the US). If sleep loss is affecting your mood, read our guide to sleep deprivation and contact a perinatal support line (PANDA on 1300 726 306 in Australia, Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK, the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline on 1-833-852-6262 in the US) or your GP. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, call a crisis line (Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK, 988 in the US) or your local emergency number (000 in Australia, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US) now.
What is worth noting in a sleep diary?
A week of notes before you start gives you something to compare against. Jot down bedtime, how long settling took, what helped, each night waking and how it ended. Look at the trend across a week rather than any single night, and take the diary with you if you see a GP or child-health nurse.
