A personal note on Ferber:
When my oldest child (now 13) was born, we lived in a very old house
with very old wiring.  When our daughter was about 3 months old, I got a
baby monitor so I could put her down upstairs but go downstairs but
still hear her when she awoke.  Over and over and over again I would
hear hysterical crying and run upstairs to find an sleeping baby.  It
turned out that my next door neighbors, in an equally old house with
equally old wiring, were ferberizing their baby (who was 2 months older
than mine and just the recommended age to begin) and my monitor was
somehow interconnected to their house.  My skin still crawls when I
think of the way that baby cried.

Now, I must admit, that it did "work"--after about 6 days of crying
according to the program (and this family really followed the book),
that child slept without waking the parents and he also continued to
breastfeed until his first birthday when mother weaned him.  HOWEVER,
after every disruption in their lives (visit to grandma's, a cold, etc)
they had to go through the whole thing again. AND, as the child got
older, this kid had a terrible time falling asleep anywhere except his
own bed.  The mother (who was a friend) and I often talked about the
fact that my kids learned to fall asleep anywhere because as babies they
slept whereever their mother was but her kids( this one was the youngest
of 3) learned to sleep only in their own bed.

I believe that there are children for whom the method works more easily
that the one I eavesdropped on.  I also believe that the method
eventually "works", at least short term, for the majority oif children.
However, I don't think that it is humane to let any human--whatever the
age--cry in fright, pain, agony, fear, loneliness, anger like that if it
is in our power to comfort that person.  If our goal is to raise kind,
responsible, empathetic human beings, how can we ignore their cries just
so we can get some uninterrupted sleep? The myth that we need to ignore
children's needs to "train" them is pervasive in our culture.  Even if
it has no impact on nutritional status, those of us who care about
children's emotional as well as physical health need to stand up and say
"This is wrong!"  If we don't advocate for children, who will?

Warmly,
Judy Gelman, IBCLC
Washington, DC