Teaching children to sleep through the night

We met with our Pediatrician for a well baby visit and discussed with him if Lucy was ready to sleep through the night. He said once a baby weighs at least 12 pounds and is 6 months or older (Lucy was 6 1/2 months old at the time) they are physically and neurologically ready to sleep for 10-12 hours a night.

He said to pick a bed time, establish a routine (read books, sing songs, prayers, etc.), put her to bed (let her cry it out) and get her in the morning. He said most babies figure it out in a night or two.

We did just what he said and she cried for 40 minutes when we laid her down at 9pm, then slept until 2:10am -cried until 3:30am (not one of the more enjoyable moments of my life), slept until 5am (cried until 6am) slept until 7am and then happily woke up and we went in and got her (it had been 10 hours).

The REAL MAGIC happened nights 2 and 3: we followed the same routine, put her to bed she cried for about 30 minutes and then went to sleep AND slept until 7:30 am without a peep!!! The Doc said it should only take a night or two and he was right. WOW!!! (personal experience)