I don't have a baby, nor am I expecting one, but I would try to get the baby to get more used to sleeping on its own, while still making sure I took good care of it and the crying didn't get out of control.

We let our babies cry it out.  It worked great for both of them and they were both going to sleep easily and sleeping through the night by two months.  That's not to say that we didn't have occasional nights after that when they would take forever to fall asleep and they would cry and fuss for half an hour or so.  My daughter is now 14 months old and if there is anything out of the ordinary before bedtime she gets all out of whack and cries uncontrollably anytime we leave the room.  That's not fun. 

Naptime is a whole different ball game.  Crying, crying, sometimes sleeping, sometimes not....but it did get better when they got a more normal napping schedule.  Hopefully the same will be true for you.

With our first child, I'd nurse her, she went to sleep, we put her in the crib.  When she was weaned, she'd play herself to sleep.  With our second, we tried everything.  It finally came down to me putting her in her crib and checking on her.  She was so used to sleeping with us (we co-sleeped.  I'm not a fan of this.), it was hard on all of us.  But, once she got used to it, she was fine.  I put toys in her crib and turn on the Sleep Sheep and she talks herself to sleep.  Sometimes I hear her giggling.  I think it depends on the child...and the parents.  There is no one-size fits all, unfortunately.  I do disagree with the philosophy that letting your child cry it out for a 1/2 hour will do damage to them.  I think that's more about the parents than the child.

I didn't let my kids cry it out. But I do realize that every baby is different, and what came easy to my babies and I (typically, laying down to sleep with them at night or when I was anticipating a good nap, letting them nurse to sleep, then I'd "roll away") isn't going to work for everyone. I do have to say that I am against the Ezzo/Babywise camp of "sleep training", that's too extreme.

The only time we let our baby cry it out is when she's in her car seat where we have no choice but to leave her there.  Even then, I only let her cry for 10 minutes before checking if she's ok.  Fortunately she always falls asleep before the time is up so I haven't had to pull over yet.  As for falling asleep at home, she usually nurses to sleep but will fall asleep if Daddy or Aba is holding her.  She usually won't fall asleep on me but I expect that since I'm the milk cow.  I don't really worry about her being able to fall asleep on her own because I know she can do it.  I guess if I had to leave the house to go to work the whole sleeping thing might be a bigger issue for us, but I don't and I'm still nursing so it's okay the way it is. 

As for naps, mine didn't start regular napping until she was at least six months old, maybe a little older.  Before that she'd just randomly nap, either after feeding or on her own, so I would guess you'll see some improvement as he ages.  

i think the key with "crying it out" is making sure your child is old enough.
i don't think it's healthy for babies under 3 months old because they are developing their sense of trust. but after 4 months. . . and especially once they get to 6 and 7 months old, i think it's great. my babies actually slept better when they cried for a little while. they slept longer, harder and woke up happier the next day.
it's hard to hear. . . but for us, it's been worth it.

I hate that people are against it.  Some people do see it as cruel.  I have found that as long as you know your baby well enough to know the difference in their crying - hungry, upset, hurt, etc. - it isnt a bad thing.  there are limits.  But running to your child every time they start to cry simply encourages it.

Does D sleep right away for naps if you dont leave him alone? 

Enjoy your trip to the US - I hope things go smoothly!

When Sophia was a newborn, I did not and would not let her cry it out. I didn't think it was cruel or anything, I just couldn't do it. I would start crying myself and I would think that maybe there was something wrong with her, maybe she was hungry again, maybe her diaper was messy, but the fact that once I held her she stopped crying, I realized that she only wanted to be held, and I'm not one to go against that. If my newborn baby wants to be held, I will hold her. As she grew up a little bit and I knew her and her cries a little better, I would be ok with it. Since she was about 4 1/2 months old I started letting her "Cry it out" because I knew there was nothing wrong with her and she did just want to be held, but I knew she had to learn to sleep on her own. At 6 months, if we put her to bed with a bottle it's cry free, if she's super duper tired, it's cry free, but it's she's getting sleepy and she just ate so i'm not making her another bottle and I just lay her down with her pacifier it's waterworks, but she learns and cries for a little bit and is dead asleep in a few minutes. I think it's just the fact that she a little older now and I know she understands things, wereas a newborn I think just wants to feel safe. I think both methods work fine, and someone once told me....if it doesn't feel right to you, it's probably not. Which helped me when I felt guilty letting her cry...just because it's grandma's, your older sister, everybody's aunts, and great grandma's advice to let her cry because "that's how they did it and it worked" doesn't mean it should be your method as well. Do what you feel is right.

Our son is a Master-Going-to-Sleeper! I know, I know... I am ridiculously lucky that way. Still, I do think the way we approached bedtime was good for him. We sort-of followed the ideas in a book called "The Contented Baby" by Gina Ford, mostly when it came to his daily routine (how long to let him sleep during the day, how many naps, etcetera). We did not, however, just let him "cry it out" exactly.

We have always put him to bed, turned on his little night music, and left. When he was younger than four months, I would sit at his bedside until he went to sleep, if necessary (for example, if he was over-stimulated from having company over). After four months, I started to notice that he would try to manipulate us (!!) into staying with him, and we changed our routine into what we do now: we do his bedtime routine, we leave, then let him cry for five minutes, go back, give him his dummy or a sip of water, turn his music back on, leave. Then we try to wait for 7 minutes before going back, then 10, etcetera. Usually, he falls asleep right after I go back the first time. For me, "crying it out" just broke my heart, and I felt like he both needed to learn to fall asleep on his own, but still know that mommy and daddy are there for him if he needs us. It works for us!

The only time this doesn't always work is when he is sick - he sleeps a lot more during the day, and his routine is messed up then. We do sit by his bed until he falls asleep when he is sick, but we try to not let him fall asleep while we're holding him - that way, he got used to falling asleep in his own bed. We let him stay up until the first signs of fatigue (scratching his head, rubbing his ears, yawning) when he is sick. Otherwise, he has strictly set bedtimes for his naps and nighttime. Hope that helps!