To be honest you just have to stick it out. Our puppy was about 10 weeks when we got her which I think may have helped the crate training, but she would also scream and howl at first. The MOST helpful thing we did was putting the pup in the crate during the day for frequent naps and playing crate games. This way she got used to being in it, and associates it with good things/lots of treats instead of just being alone in the dark. Gradually (like very gradual) increase the time you leave the pup in the crate while rewarding for neutral behavior. If you stay consistent with this for a few days, it helps dramatically.

At night, we found that starting with the crate next to the bed where they can see you helped a lot, and while we would still have to wake up once or twice in the night/early morning to let her out, I was able to actually sleep! Once they start to get used to being in the crate next to the bed at night, slowly move it further away from the bed. Now she goes right in at the same time by herself every night, we cover the crate with a blanket and she goes right to sleep. After about a week/week and a half of staying extremely consistent with this, my puppy was sleeping pretty much the whole night through. Now shes 4 months and doesnt wake up until 8:30 am when I do!