My pup ran right into his crate the first night home (saturday). He has slept all though the night, except for last night when he decided 2am was a good time to play. He wanted out, and he also decided to pee in his crate.
I can only assume pups are a lot like horses (I train horses), they are all different.
I took him out because I live in an apartment complex, and really can not have him howl at 2am (so I cant just ignore it-- I do that during the day when people wont care), but mom was not happy. I did not yell at him, I just did not play with him and told him to settle. We learned what "stay" meant-- meaning he learned last night at 2am-- so I cleaned up his potty, then he went back into his crate. I put my finger up and said stay, he looked at it, laid down then put his head down. I decided that if I was in there he would want me to give him attention, so I gave him the room (he was in his crate, but in my room alone) and I slept in the family room. He went right back to bed the rest of the night, so that was my first experience with howling in the middle of the night.
When he woke up today he yelped and I knew it was because he had to go potty. We went out, but I was so tired. When we came back in he ate and then I wanted him to go in the crate. I closed my door and picked up everything on the floor--- then kept the crate door open. I accidently dosed off and woke up two hours later to a sleeping puppy in the crate. So he went to bed when I wanted him to, and I think last night worked.
again this is just my experience with the crate training and howling-- I dont know if that will work for your dog, and I dont feel im an experienced enough puppy owner to say "yea go ahead and do it."
But best of luck! They are a lot of work aren't they!
also wanted to say when he went back to bed after the initial 2am incident I had the TV on weatherscan that plays non stop smooth jazz-- with no commercials. So maybe you want to put a radio in there and play some soft classical or jazz music.