Books and guidelines will tell you to be persistent and the habit can be kicked after 3days.
You have to slowly cut down on the frequency and then wean off. Another alternatives is to sing to baby and instead of patting, rub baby's back up and down instead. Or change baby's sleeping position and then place your hands one at the shoulder blade and the other at the bump. If baby is sleeping face up, one hand on the top of the head and the other on her chest.
I do find crying out method redundant as it may cause more traumas. This method works well in the past but nowadays it doesn't seems to work as our babies are more intelligent. Crying out may worsen the outcome if baby cries for too long. Avoid letting baby cry for too long i.e. 15mins.
Distraction does work at times so do give it a try too say baby wants to sleep and you can carry your baby and cuddle her while singing songs to her.
Personally I use the distraction methods which works way better than crying out. Crying out makes the situation more frustrating and the baby more irritable. Also when placing my hands on baby, whispering 'it's okay" and humming a soothing tune helps a lot too.
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