I'd like to suggest another opinion: don't let him cry it out!! If you've ever read any of the baby books by Dr William Sears - and many others - (there are lots, including, "The Baby Book", which is excellent), he is a proponent of parenting your children at all times of the day or night. He says that you should respond to your children the same whether it's day or night; if your child was hurt or scared during the day, you'd go to them, so why not at night? He gives lots of suggestions as to how to do this without getting "burned out". (There are, by the way, lots of studies done that contradict the notions that sleeping with your kids or going to them at night will do some permanent damage). My husband and I also practised shared sleeping: my kids slept with us (in our king-sized bed!) the whole time they were nursing, and my 2 yr old still comes in when she's scared or has bad dreams (and once in a while my 5 yr old, if he's had a nightmare or is feeling sick). The whole idea is for everyone to get as much sleep as possible, so why not make it easy as possible? This is not a popular custom in our society (or at least not many parents will openly admit to it!), but lots of other cultures share sleeping with their children. One lady from the Phillipines asked a north american mother if it was true that in the USA, women put their babies in cages at night (cribs)! People will say not to let your kids sleep with you, or you'll spoil them, and never get them out of your bed; I can say, "Wrong!". All three of my kids went very willingly into their own beds at around age 2-3, and are the only kids I know who don't make a fuss at bedtime (they even ASK to go to bed sometimes!). I am not worried about this, as I don't know any 18 yr olds that still sleep with their parents; I believe it is an issue of maturity (they'll sleep comfortably on their own when they're ready), as opposed to an issue of discipline (why on earth does a 6 month old 'need" to learn to sleep by themselves?? There are lots of things that they can't do by themselves yet, but they will; (perhaps we should not put diapers on our children, or they will never get used to using the toilet!). I never believed in the cry it out method - it always felt "wrong" to me, and reading some books by authors who gave me "permission" to parent at night too, made all the difference. I feel good about the choices we made as parents, my kids seem to have really benefited from them, and I would encourage any parent who feels like going to their kids at night, sitting with them while they fall asleep, or even letting them sleep with you, to do it! They are children for such a short time, and in a few years (as teenagers) you'll be fighting to get them OUT of bed! Well, I've said my piece! This should generate some interesting comments!