Letting restless babies ‘cry it out’ during bedtime, or using the controlled crying technique, are both more effective at improving infants’ sleeping patterns than parental presence or no intervention at all, a real-world study shows. 

Australian-led researchers say the two crying-based behavioural interventions led to superior outcomes without jeopardising daytime sleepiness or parent-infant bonding. 

And although being present was seen as the easiest intervention and parents tried it for longer, it also took longer to see improvements and was the least helpful.

“Many parents may want to try these interventions but are reluctant given [non-evidence based] claims that they are unsafe,” said lead author and Flinders University clinical psychologist Dr Michal Kahn (PhD).