In their words: parents who shared this worry
“I was really worried about the tears. I didn’t want her crying too much. And, honestly, the tears were so minimal night one.”
“Husband and I are super anti cry it out method. This is not what this is. It’s very strategic. It is planned.”
“But to be honest, it wasn’t even bad. I prepared myself for so much worse.”
“Through the first night, Cadence took, like, eighteen minutes to go to sleep. After that, it was, like, five minutes.”
“Went down tonight with minimal tears. We’re ten days in.”
“But the amount of crying in this program is very minimal.”
Where the fear of tears comes from
To a lot of parents, “sleep training” conjures a single image: a baby left by themselves to cry for however long it takes. If that’s what you’ve been told, wanting to rule it out is completely reasonable.
The parents in this video started from that same place, and some call themselves firmly opposed to cry it out. What they went on to experience was something else: a little protest at the start, a plan that spelled out what to do at every moment, and crying that fell away fast.
What we do instead
Dr. Sam writes a plan for your baby and pairs it with bootcamp-style coaching before night one, so you know precisely how to respond and the reason behind each step. Daily 1:1 check-ins follow, and the plan is adapted to how your baby is reacting. We coach naps until they’re solid. The result is guaranteed in writing: “We guarantee that your baby will sleep 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days of consistent, correct implementation of your sleep plan.”
Parents are upfront that the first night can be the toughest. After that, they describe crying that lasts minutes, then very little or none. One mom who describes herself as firmly against cry it out says Actually Sleeping isn’t that — it’s strategic, and it’s planned.
More from our client families
All 129 client video reviews are on the reviews page. To see how consultants vary in their approach to crying, read do sleep consultants use cry it out. And before booking, you’re welcome to check that the company is legit.
If tears are what worries you most, tell us on the free consultation. We’ll walk you through exactly how a plan for your baby deals with them.
Ready to solve this for your baby?
Actually Sleeping offers 1:1 coaching: Dr. Sam writes a sleep plan for your baby, we coach you bootcamp-style before the first night, and we check in daily until it is working. We’ve coached 700+ families, collected 129 video reviews, and back it all with a written guarantee: 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days, or a full refund.
Common questions
Is there going to be any crying?
A bit of protest is normal while a baby learns a new way of falling asleep, and the parents in our reviews are honest about it. They also talk about how minimal it was and how fast it faded — frequently to a few minutes, or none, within days.
Will I be asked to leave my baby to cry alone?
No. Actually Sleeping is neither cry it out nor wait it out. Dr. Sam writes a plan for your baby, and the coaching before night one covers how to respond at every stage, so you’re never left guessing.
What if my baby cries a lot?
Dr. Sam writes the plan around your baby’s temperament, and daily 1:1 check-ins adapt it to how your baby responds. The parents in this video had braced for far worse than what actually happened.