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The baby sleep map

Which way of getting your baby to sleep suits you?

Your sister swears by Gina Ford and your feed says never let them cry? Plenty of parents feel pulled both ways. Answer two questions and the map shows the methods, books and sleep consultants that fit how you feel.

What the studies found

Timed checks help, and no harm showed up at age six

Researchers in Melbourne taught controlled comforting or camping out to parents of babies with sleep problems at 8 to 10 months, then followed the children to age six. They found no difference in behaviour, sleep, stress or closeness to parents.1

Age 6no difference

The 225 children followed showed no lasting effect, good or bad, from the sleep help their parents got.1

53 of 76

babies' sleep problems cleared within two months with controlled crying, against 36 of 76 without it. Their mams' low mood lifted too.2

94%

of 52 treatment studies found that changing how a baby settles helped, in a review for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.3

0–6months

A 2013 review found sleep training in the first six months did not help mothers or babies.5 The HSE says not to leave a baby that young crying for more than a few minutes.6

Gentler methods have fewer trials behind them. In a small 2022 trial, a responsive method matched controlled crying on sleep and those mams were less stressed.4 Bedtime fading cut the time to fall asleep as much as controlled crying in a 2016 trial.16

Safe sleep

The HSE and the Lullaby Trust give every family the same safe sleep rules

  1. On their back, in a clear, flat cot or Moses basket.Keep pillows, bumpers and loose blankets out of it.9
  2. In your room for at least the first six months.The HSE and the Lullaby Trust both say this.89
  3. Never fall asleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair.The risk of sudden infant death is 50 times higher there.10 The HSE says not to share a bed with a baby under three months, or after alcohol, smoking or drowsy medicine.8
  4. Night feeds are normal for months.The HSE and the Raising Children Network start sleep methods at six months.711 The five Irish consultants who gave an age start at four months or later.17
Free help

Free help comes first

Your public health nurse

Visits free within three days of you coming home, with advice on feeding and safe sleep. Ask about sleep at the checks around 3 months and 9 to 11 months.12

Parentline01 873 3500

Monday to Thursday 10am to 9pm, Friday 10am to 7pm, for any parenting worry in Ireland.13

Your health visitor

In the UK, sleep comes up at each review, and you can call the team sooner. Some areas run a health visitor sleep clinic.15

Cry-sis0800 448 0737

Every day, 9am to 10pm, for UK parents of babies who cry a lot or sleep badly.14

The four guides

Open the part you need

16

Methods

Each method says what you do at bedtime and what the studies found.

Read the methods →
9

Consultant schools

See what a consultant costs in Ireland and what each training school teaches.

Read about consultants →
16

Apps and devices

See which apps say when the next nap is, and which ones you can pay for once.

See the apps →
20

Books

See which books the recommended lists name most.

See the books →
We make Snug

Snug tells you when the next nap should start

Tap when your baby falls asleep and when they wake, and Snug works out the next nap from the wake windows for their age. Logging is free, and you can share the log with whoever's minding them.

Get Snug on Google Play

Sources

We checked every source on 5 October 2026 through a search tool's copy of each page. Open a link to read the page itself.

  1. Price, Wake, Ukoumunne and Hiscock. Five-year follow-up of harms and benefits of behavioral infant sleep intervention. Pediatrics, 2012. doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-3467
  2. Hiscock and Wake. Randomised controlled trial of behavioural infant sleep intervention to improve infant sleep and maternal mood. BMJ, 2002. PubMed
  3. Mindell and others. Behavioral treatment of bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children. Sleep, 2006. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/29.10.1263
  4. Blunden, Osborne and King. Do responsive sleep interventions impact mental health in mother/infant dyads compared to extinction interventions? A pilot study. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 2022. doi.org/10.1007/s00737-022-01224-w
  5. Douglas and Hill. Behavioral sleep interventions in the first six months of life do not improve outcomes for mothers or infants: a systematic review. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 2013. PubMed
  6. HSE. Helping your child get back to sleep, 0 to 6 months. www2.hse.ie
  7. HSE. Helping your child get back to sleep, 6 months and older. www2.hse.ie
  8. HSE. Where your baby should sleep. www2.hse.ie
  9. The Lullaby Trust. Safer sleep overview. lullabytrust.org.uk
  10. The Lullaby Trust. Room sharing. lullabytrust.org.uk
  11. Raising Children Network. Camping out. raisingchildren.net.au
  12. Citizens Information. Maternity care and the public health nurse. citizensinformation.ie
  13. Parentline. Contact. parentline.ie
  14. Cry-sis. Contact us. cry-sis.org.uk
  15. RDaSH NHS health visitors. Child health and development. healthvisitors.rdash.nhs.uk
  16. Gradisar and others. Behavioral interventions for infant sleep problems: a randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics, 2016. doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-1486
  17. Ten Irish sleep consultants' own sites, listed on the consultants page.