Ferber vs the chair method, in detail

You have read the quick comparisons. Now you are trying to decide between the Ferber method and the chair method for real, and the summaries all sound the same: one is faster, one is gentler.

Here is the plain answer. With Ferber, you leave the room and come back for short check-ins at set times that get longer. With the chair method, you stay in the room and move a little farther away every few nights. Ferber is usually faster and involves more crying alone. The chair method is usually slower, with less crying alone and more of your time. In a head-to-head trial, both improved sleep. The better choice depends on your baby and on what you can keep doing at 2 a.m.

What each method asks of you, night by night

The Ferber method. After your bedtime routine, you put your baby in the crib awake and leave. If they cry, you wait a set interval, go in for a brief, calm check-in without picking them up, then leave again. The waits get longer through the night and across the week. On the classic chart, Night 1 is 3, 5, then 10 minutes, and Night 7 is 20, 25, then 30.

Night	1st wait	2nd wait	3rd wait, then every wait
Night 1	3 min	5 min	10 min
Night 2	5 min	10 min	12 min
Night 3	10 min	12 min	15 min
Night 4	12 min	15 min	17 min
Night 5	15 min	17 min	20 min
Night 6	17 min	20 min	25 min
Night 7	20 min	25 min	30 min

Waits are in minutes. After the third wait, keep repeating the third value until your baby is asleep. If your baby wakes later in the night, start again from that night's first wait.

The chair method. You put your baby down awake and sit beside the crib until they fall asleep, then leave. The Raising Children Network describes a version it calls camping out: sit by the crib and pat or stroke your baby until they sleep, then after about 3 nights cut back the patting, then after another 3 nights move the chair 30 to 40 cm (roughly a foot) away, and keep moving it toward the door and out of the room. It suggests this for babies over 6 months and says the process could take 1 to 3 weeks.

The two methods share a starting point: your baby goes into the crib awake after a calm routine, so they can practice the last step of falling asleep themselves. Our method comparison has the short version of each.

Ferber vs chair method: what a head-to-head trial found

Most sleep research has studied extinction (cry it out) and graduated extinction (the family Ferber belongs to). A 2006 review of 52 studies for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found strong support for unmodified extinction and parent education, and support for graduated extinction, bedtime fading and scheduled awakenings (Mindell et al., 2006). Approaches where a parent stays in the room have been studied less.

One trial in Israel did compare the two styles directly. Researchers randomly assigned 91 infants aged 9 to 18 months to one of two programs (Kahn et al., 2020, Sleep):

• Checking-in, a graduated extinction protocol in which the parent gradually separates from the baby, with brief visits.
• Camping-out, in which the parent stays present in the room.

Their camping-out version may not match the chair method exactly, but it is the closest direct comparison available.

The results:

• Sleep improved with both programs, measured by a movement-tracking wristband (actigraphy) and parent reports, and the improvement held at a 6-month follow-up.
• Babies’ separation anxiety mattered. Infants who showed high separation anxiety in the lab did better with camping-out than with checking-in. The authors suggested that for highly anxious infants, gentler approaches such as camping-out may be the better pick.

A companion paper from the same trial looked at the parents (Kahn et al., 2020, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine). Parents who could tolerate more crying at the start, and who were less likely to read their baby’s crying as distress, saw bigger improvements. Parents’ tolerance for crying rose after the programs.

Some limits are worth knowing. This is one trial, with babies a bit older than many Ferber families. It did not include a group that got no program at all.

Where each method tends to be harder

The Ferber method is hard in the obvious way: you hear your baby cry and you stay out of the room until the timer says to go in. Nights 2 and 3 are often harder than Night 1. Some babies get more wound up each time a parent appears and then leaves, and a check-in can occasionally rouse a baby who was close to sleep. Keeping accurate time through several waits at 2 a.m. is also harder than it sounds.

The chair method is hard in a quieter way. It takes more evenings, and you are in the room at every bedtime and every waking until the chair is out the door. Your baby may still cry, now with you sitting right there, not picking them up, which some parents find harder than being outside. Some babies come to rely on the chair itself, so the last few moves can stall.

Neither method is free of crying. If the main thing you want to avoid is your baby crying alone, the chair method fits that. If you want the shortest stretch of hard nights, Ferber usually fits better.

How to choose between them

A few honest questions help more than any ranking.

How does your baby react to you in the room? If your baby settles when you are near, the chair method has something to work with. If your presence without picking up seems to make them angrier, fewer visits may be kinder. The trial above suggests babies who are very anxious about separation may do better with a parent present.

How much crying can you actually sit through, outside the door? The JCSM paper found parents’ cry tolerance predicted results. If listening from the hallway is unbearable, a slower method you can keep up is better than a faster one you abandon on Night 2. Our article on the hard middle nights may help you gauge this.

How much time do you have? One to three weeks of sitting in a dark nursery is a real commitment, especially with other children or a partner on night shifts.

Can every adult do the same thing? Whichever you pick, agree on it before the first night, including who goes in at 2 a.m. and what they do there.

It is also fine to start with one and change later, as long as the change is a decision, made in daylight, after a fair try. And it is fine not to sleep train at all if your nights are working.

Safety comes first with either method

With the chair method, you will be in the room for long stretches, sometimes half asleep yourself. Your baby still sleeps on their back, in their own crib, on a firm, flat surface with no pillows, blankets, bumpers or soft toys. If you doze off, do it in your own chair or bed, never with your baby on a couch or armchair. The AAP guide to safe sleep has the full checklist.

One next step for tonight

Watch how your baby reacts the next time you sit near the crib without picking them up. If they calm down, the chair method is a realistic option. If they get more upset, Ferber’s short, predictable visits may suit them better. Then read the full Ferber method guide or the Ferber vs cry it out vs chair method overview with your partner before choosing.

If you choose Ferber, the Ferber app runs each wait, alerts you at check-in time, times the check-in (2 minutes by default) and keeps a history of every night.

Common questions

Is the chair method gentler than the Ferber method?

On any single night, the chair method usually means less time crying alone, because a parent stays in the room. It is slower, though, and some babies find a parent who is close but not picking them up frustrating. There is no good evidence that either method is better or worse for babies in the long run.

Which works faster, Ferber or the chair method?

The Ferber method is usually quicker, with many families seeing change within about a week. The chair method moves the chair every few nights, and the Raising Children Network says this kind of approach could take 1 to 3 weeks.

Has the chair method been compared directly with Ferber?

Yes, in at least one randomized trial. In a 2020 study of 91 infants aged 9 to 18 months, sleep improved with both a graduated extinction approach and a parent-presence approach called camping out, and the gains held at 6-month follow-up. Babies with high separation anxiety benefited more from camping out.

Can I start with the chair method and switch to Ferber?

You can. Give the first method a fair run of at least a week, then switch deliberately and tell every adult involved. Changing the plan night to night is harder on a baby than either method on its own.

Sources

1. Kahn M et al. Behavioral interventions for pediatric insomnia: one treatment may not fit all. Sleep, 2020
2. Kahn M et al. Behavioral interventions for infant sleep problems: the role of parental cry tolerance and sleep-related cognitions. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2020
3. Raising Children Network: Camping out
4. Mindell JA et al. Behavioral treatment of bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children. Sleep, 2006
5. American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org): A Parent's Guide to Safe Sleep