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Sleep-training glossary

The words you will meet in books, forums and pediatrician offices, in plain English.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Bedtime fading

Also called Faded bedtime

A behavioral approach that temporarily moves bedtime later, to when a child is reliably sleepy, then brings it earlier in small steps.

Because the child is tired enough to fall asleep quickly, there is usually less protest. A 2016 randomized trial in Pediatrics found both bedtime fading and graduated extinction shortened the time babies took to fall asleep.

Bedtime routine

The same short sequence of calm steps every night before sleep, for example bath, pajamas, feed, book, song, into the crib.

A predictable routine tells a baby what comes next. It matters more that it is consistent than that it is long. The routine should end with your baby going into the crib awake.

Behavioral insomnia of childhood

The clinical name for sleep trouble in young children that comes from habits and routines rather than a medical cause, such as needing to be rocked or fed back to sleep after every waking.

Behavioral approaches like graduated extinction are designed for this kind of problem. They are not a fix for sleep problems caused by illness, reflux, breathing problems or other medical issues. Those need a pediatrician.

Chair method

Also called Adult fading, Camping out, Sleep Lady Shuffle

A gradual approach where a parent sits beside the crib until the baby falls asleep, then moves the chair a little farther away every few nights until they are out of the room.

Researchers call versions of it "camping out" or "adult fading." It usually involves less crying alone than the Ferber method, but takes longer and asks a parent to stay in the room at every sleep.

Check-in

A brief, calm visit to your baby during the Ferber method. You reassure them with your voice and perhaps a pat, without picking them up or feeding, then leave.

The point of a check-in is to let your baby know you are close, not to stop the crying. Keep it short. The Ferber app times each check-in (two minutes by default) so visits do not quietly grow into the new way to fall asleep.

Controlled comforting

Also called Controlled crying

Terms used in Australia and in several Australian research trials for approaches that work like the Ferber method: timed waits between brief comforting visits.

Dream feed

A feed given to a sleeping baby, usually late in the evening before the parent goes to bed, without fully waking them.

Some families keep a dream feed while sleep training. If your pediatrician wants a night feed kept, keep it, and use the method for the other wakings.

Drowsy but awake

Putting your baby into the crib relaxed and sleepy but still awake, so that they do the last part of falling asleep on their own.

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests putting babies 4 months and older to bed drowsy rather than already asleep, so they learn to fall asleep in their own bed. It is the starting point for the Ferber method.

Early morning waking

Waking for the day well before the family wants to be up, and not settling back to sleep.

Extinction

Also called Cry it out, Full extinction, Unmodified extinction

Putting your baby to bed at a set time and not returning until a set time in the morning, apart from safety or illness checks.

In behavioral terms, extinction means stopping the response that has been keeping a habit going. It is the approach most people mean by "cry it out." The Ferber method differs by adding timed check-ins.

Extinction burst

A temporary increase in a behavior right after the response that usually follows it is taken away. In sleep training, crying can get louder or longer for a night or two before it drops.

This is one reason Night 2 or 3 can feel worse than Night 1. It is common and usually short-lived. It is not a sign that the method has failed.

Ferber method

Also called Ferberizing, Progressive waiting

A sleep-training approach popularized by pediatric sleep specialist Dr. Richard Ferber in Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems (1985, revised 2006). Parents check on a crying baby at intervals that get gradually longer.

Graduated extinction

The research term for the Ferber method: extinction with brief, scheduled check-ins at intervals that lengthen over time.

Graduated extinction is among the most studied behavioral treatments for infant sleep problems. See the research page for what trials have and have not found.

Interval

Also called Wait

The time you wait outside the room before a check-in. In the classic Ferber chart, Night 1 uses 3, then 5, then 10 minutes, and the third interval repeats until sleep.

Night waking

Waking during the night after first falling asleep. All babies surface briefly between sleep cycles. Night wakings become a problem when a baby cannot get back to sleep without help each time.

Night weaning

Gradually or fully stopping feeds during the night. Whether and when your baby still needs a night feed is a question for your pediatrician.

Pick up, put down

Also called PUPD

A hands-on approach where you pick a crying baby up to calm them, then put them back down awake, repeating as often as needed.

It keeps a parent very involved, which some families prefer. It can take many repetitions and a lot of stamina, and it has been studied far less than graduated extinction.

Room sharing

Having your baby sleep in your room on their own separate, safe sleep surface. The AAP recommends room sharing without bed sharing, ideally for at least the first 6 months.

Safe sleep

The AAP’s recommendations for reducing sleep-related infant deaths: baby on their back, on a firm, flat, non-inclined surface, in their own crib or bassinet, with no soft bedding, pillows or bumpers.

Sleep training never changes these rules. Every Ferber check-in happens in a safe sleep space.

Scheduled awakenings

A behavioral technique where a parent briefly wakes a child shortly before the time they usually wake on their own, then fades those wakings out over time.

It is one of the approaches the 2006 American Academy of Sleep Medicine review found support for, alongside extinction, graduated extinction and bedtime fading.

Self-settling

Also called Self-soothing

A baby’s ability to fall asleep, or fall back asleep after a waking, without a parent rocking, feeding or holding them.

Sleep association

Also called Sleep onset association

Whatever a baby links with falling asleep, such as being rocked, fed, held or patted. If it is there at bedtime but gone at 2 a.m., the baby may need it back to fall asleep again.

This idea is central to Dr. Ferber’s explanation of night wakings. The method helps a baby form associations they can keep all night, like their own crib and their own way of settling.

Sleep onset latency

How long it takes to fall asleep after being put down. Many sleep-training studies use it as a main measure.

Sleep regression

A popular term for a stretch when a baby who was sleeping well starts waking more, often around big developmental changes. It is a parenting term rather than a medical diagnosis.

Sleep training

Any structured approach to helping a baby learn to fall asleep and get back to sleep on their own. The Ferber method is one kind; others include extinction, the chair method and bedtime fading.

Wake window

A popular term for how long a baby stays awake between sleeps. Typical ranges get longer with age, but they are rough guides rather than rules.