Made a mistake…
When my fiancé and I first brought our sweet boy home, he slept nearly the entire night through in his crate without issue. So we decided we’d immediately stick to it and crate him every night. He’d cry and eventually settle. EDIT: it was more or less mini panic attacks until he was exhausted. But after a LOT of Reddit threads, Google, and reflection on past experience with my late pup, I realized I was possibly setting him up for failure later in life.
I removed his crate from his playpen and have put it in storage (it’s a 42” size). I then purchased a more appropriately sized crate for him that we keep in the living room. I now work on tossing treats/toys into it, training exercises to teach him that quiet and calm behavior when he’s in the crate earns rewards, and just getting him comfy with going in and out of it.
He’s not quite to the level of comfort to willingly nap or lay down in it, but I do often catch him walking into it looking for treats. Going to keep at it with our fun games and training and cross my fingers that eventually it’ll all be worth it (,: