A few minutes of "fussing" isn't going to hurt anyone but if your baby is hysterical or getting hoarse from crying, I think your friend is right. Little babies need to know their world is safe and how can they know that if you leave them in distress for significant periods of time? There is a reason that a baby's cry is so aversive to us grownups - that is so we will actually ATTEND to the little guy. Let your instincts guide you - not your doctor. Surely you feel distress when your baby cries so just pay attention to your own feelings and use them as a signal. Try rocking, walking or nursing your baby to sleep. A soothed baby is a happy baby. A screaming baby is a miserable baby. Which do YOU want?

Letting a baby cry at night will not harm them anymore than letting them cry during the day. Babies scream at night a lot because they want you to hold them and rock them to sleep; but you can't do that all their lives, can you? Letting a child go to sleep on their own is a way of teaching them to comfort themselves; a skill they will NEED eventually.

Teaching your child how to comfort himself to sleep can be a great help to children who cry at night because they can then manage to get back to sleep on their own.