There are many parenting topics which cause quite a bit of debate, like co-sleeping vs crib; breastfeeding vs bottle and when to introduce solids. Possibly one the most controversial topic though, is whether or not it’s ok to let your baby cry it out. Often referred to as “self-soothing” or “controlled crying”, some consider it cruel while others don’t see any other way.
According to a new study by Flinders University in Australia, the practice of letting a baby cry until the child drifts off to sleep does not cause any long-term emotional or behavioural harm.
A study of 43 babies – all of whom had trouble falling asleep, aged between 6 and 16 months, were divided into 3 groups on which 2 different techniques were tested.
The first group in the study used ‘controlled crying’ – the sleep training technique where the child is left to cry for gradually increasing periods of time before being consoled.
The second group tested something called bedtime fading, the method where parents set the bedtime at the time their child usually falls asleep and then gradually makes that time earlier or the technique of moving bedtime later in hope that the child will fall asleep more quickly.
The last group only received advice on fostering healthy sleep habits.
Here are some of the key findings:
- The Researchers discovered that babies, whose parents allowed their child to cry for increasingly long periods of time, were no more stressed than babies whose parents used the technique of moving the babies bedtime later.
- Babies in the first two groups were said to be falling asleep between 10 and 13 minutes faster.
- Researchers also found that babies in the controlled crying group were also having less interrupted sleep during the night, waking just once or twice, and subsequently stress levels had dropped for mothers and their babies.
Regardless of the findings, as a new parent it’s sometimes best to just go with the flow and do what works for your family!