I think "sleep training", as it's now often called, is a better description than "cry it out", since training your child to learn how to put himself/herself to

I think "sleep training", as it's now often called, is a better description than "cry it out", since training your child to learn how to put himself/herself to sleep whenever they have those brief waking moments in the night is the goal. For us, our son would wake every hour in the night and none of us were getting enough rest. He was cranky all day and we were too. We finally started sleep training after about 4 months and quickly got him to start sleeping long stretches through the night. A year later, he's an excellent sleeper and a very happy child. Overall, it really depends on each family situation and the child. If your family can bear 2-4 wakeups a night for over 1.5 years, then go with it. If the wakeups are making everyone miserable -- including the child -- then that's why many parents turn to sleep training.