I'm going to preface this by saying that every parent has the right to do with their child as they deem necessary for their family as long as no one is being harmed.
HOWEVER, I HATE Cry It Out, or the Ferber Method of sleep training. I refuse to do that to my child, or anyone for that matter. The whole idea of ignoring your child until they fall asleep from exhaustion completely irks me. When I hear about people who have done it they almost always say that they had to hold themselves back from getting their baby. Of course they did. There is a reason your every instinct says to go pick up your screaming child. We are programmed that way for a reason. That baby needs you to comfort them.
I have no problem letting my little guys fuss a little while they settle down to sleep, or when I am busy with another little one who needs me. Crying and fussing are two different things. Ignoring your baby when they need you is a completely different story.
I was talking to my brother about this and told him to imagine if the situation were different and he was trapped somewhere and could not get out (he agrees with me on the issue BTW). He told me he didn't have to, he had heard a story a while back about a WWII veteran who had lost both his hands. He was fitted with prosthetics, but was unable to open doors with the hooks. One day while he was resting his wife left to go to the grocery store and inadvertently closed him in the bedroom. When she returned a couple hours later he was hysterical because he could not get out and no one came to help him. If an adult can have such a reaction, can you imagine how an infant must feel? Their only way to convey a need is by crying. Sleep training can be accomplished without teaching your baby that you will only respond to them when you are not tired.
I have never let my kids cry it out and all of them sleep well anyway.
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