I'll point you again to the Baby-wise book. Honestly after the second child, we stopped looking to the book and just went remembered the general advice and mod

I'll point you again to the Baby-wise book. Honestly after the second child, we stopped looking to the book and just went remembered the general advice and modified it to fit the child. > I will talk to the pediatrician about it ... By all means do, but also realize that the "science" of child rearing is anything but settled, and your pediatrician may have personal bias toward one method over another (not that that's a bad thing, just be aware of it). > does it harm the baby in any way ? I'm speaking here from experience, not academic study, but I'll say in an unhesitating voice, No. Our babies, as well as friends' children who have followed similar techniques, have all been on a regular eat, then wake/play, then sleep schedule as advocated in The Book. My older three children all have incredibly different personalities, from the goofy intellectual, to the excitable thespian, to the Little Annie Oakley who is currently stealing my heart. We've let each of them go through periods of self-soothing, and none of them appear any worse for the wear. As I said, newborns are immediately adapting to their environment. Whether you're intending to or not, you're conditioning them to "the routine" of the house. If the routine is "I eat for 30 minutes. Then I am awake for 30 minutes. Then I am held while I sleep for an hour and a half. Then I lay down on my own for 30 minutes. Rinse and repeat" then they will adapt to that routine, and the crying you are hearing is their way of saying "Hey, you aren't following the routine, you're supposed to be holding me now." There are people that let their children cry when they do have genuine needs. I'm not advocating that you do that. I'm simply saying that if you know their needs are met, and many times you will, letting them cry is OK. If you're in doubt, feel free to err on the side of picking them up and holding them.