Letting my daughter cry for ANY amount of time never worked. She never cried less, she never comforted herself, she never calmed down, and she never, ever, ever got over it. Period. It’s easy to say “sleep issues are sleep issues” but they’re not. She had a different temperament, different needs than her brother.

Some kids sleep well and easily. Some don’t. My son was hard to get down but generally slept through the night after age 7 motnths. My daughter was a cinch to get to sleep but didn’t sleep through the night until she was more than two years old. I’m convinced it has less to do with how their parents handle them than it does with the kid’s makeup. All the best intentioned routines and strategies in the world won’t change a kid’s sleep “personality.”