Anyone who's ever tried to get a baby to sleep through the night has probably heard of two main approaches: "Ferber-izing" and the Dr. Sears approach.

But now both experts appear to be changing their tunes.

"Ferber-izing" was named after Dr. Richard Ferber, the director of Boston's Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital. He advocated in his landmark 1985 book, Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems, an approach that lets babies "cry it out" for progressively longer periods until babies can fall asleep on their own and sleep through the night.

Many parents swear by Ferber-izing; others find it cruel and unnecessary. Now, in a new edition of his book, Ferber is backing off his controversial system.

Ferber now says that letting children cry "was not meant to be the way to treat all sleep problems" in all children.

In his updated book, coming out this spring, the doctor makes it clear that some children, such as those suffering from anxiety, will not be helped by the crying method. His new book suggests there are other solutions besides "crying it out."

At the same time, a pediatrician on the other end of the scale, Dr. William Sears, is adjusting his so-called "attachment parenting" approach.

Sears' method encourages parents to respond to their children on demand, day or night. The father of eight has also long advised parents to sleep with their children and cuddle them often.

His approach has also been controversial, with many saying his philosophy translates into ineffectual parents and demanding children.

Sears says he now thinks his earlier books placed too much emphasis on catering to the baby's needs, and did not address the parents' needs enough.

In his new book, The Baby Sleep Book, published last month, he advocates ensuring that parents get their sleep and that if mothers are sleep-deprived, they should consider weaning the baby off nighttime feedings.

Parents of newborns would be forgiven if they complained of confusing mixed messages from the so-called experts. Just last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a series of pronouncements on sleep strategies that included allowing children to use pacifiers to fall asleep, despite worries that the devices may interfere with breastfeeding.

As well, they advised that babies not sleep in their parents' beds, as Dr. Sears recommends.

Nor do they advocate putting babies to sleep on their sides. But they did suggest that babies sleep in their parents' room.

Vancouver pediatrician Mark Kovacs says he knows all too well how difficult it can be to train babies to sleep through the night. He suggests not getting locked into any one method.

"Essentially what a parent should be doing is distilling from all of these recommendations what seems to fit for them," he says. 

That's exactly what Deborah Bender, mother of two, eventually did.

"Oh you start off with the no-cry sleep solution and then you go on to Ferber, then you settle on something that works for you and the baby."