Controlled Crying

[Irons]

Just wanted to share this article

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8636950.stm

This is about Cry-It-Out, not Controlled Crying. They are different.

"One is talking about a baby that is crying hard and nobody is responding."
This shouldn't happen with CC. You respond, but don't pick the baby up necessarily.
Oh, look - just like it says further down the article:
"You can show you are quite different at night - that you don't pick him up and play with him, try to stimulate him or get his Lego out."

If you're going to 'just share an article', make sure you know what it's about! It mentions Cry it out, but NOT CC.

Its only one person's opinon. There are no definate evidence whether controlled crying harms babies in the long term or not.

My personal opinon is that there are better and kinder ways of getting a baby to sleep better.

You can find links to support any opinon. Here is a link in favour of controlled crying.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1963899.stm

Here is one against.

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/tough-love-for-baby/story-e6frg6z6-1111113 767988

All I have proved is that you can find almost anything on the internet to back and arguement.

So they've used another word for it. Controlled Crying is still leaving a baby to cry-it-out until you decide to go back in.

Anyway, I'm not here to argue about CC or Crying-it-out, whatever you want to call it. I just thought some parents might be interested to read the article.

Reallytired - I also read the article in favour of CC but I also noted it is dated 2002.

No, controlled crying isn't the same as cry it out. I'm sorry, but your 'facts' are WRONG.

Perhaps cry it out IS damaging, but controlled crying doesn't leave children without any contact as they scream. You revisit often - every 2 or 3 minutes to begin with. It's different.

Galena - I don't claim to know the 'facts' of CC, nor did I present any 'facts', only my opinion and an informative article.

Irons, you a) put 'Controlled Crying' as the title of your thread, and b) stated that 'Controlled Crying is still leaving a baby to cry-it-out until you decide to go back in.'

a) is incorrect and while I can see where you're coming from with b), the article clearly states it's only a problem if the child is screaming and no-one is responding, and if it happens over a long period of time, something which specifically DOESN'T happen with CC.

Ok

Depends what you call a long time. To a baby 20 minutes may well seem eternity. You may start at every 2 to 3 minutes, but you extend the time between visits.

Its one of those things that different parents have different ideas. I don't want to use controlled crying, but many parents use controlled crying sucessfully.

Quote from article:
"Dr Leach suggested unattended extreme crying bouts of 30 minutes or more could be damaging to babies."

CC doesn't advise anything longer than 20 minutes, I believe (although I may be wrong, I haven't read the book).

I agree though, different parents have different ideas. I have used CC as probably you can tell - I visited at 2 minutes, then every 5 minutes thereafter. It worked. No more than 30 minutes crying total ever, and certainly not 30 minutes of unattended crying.

Please do not get the idea that I feel noone else's viewpoint is valid. I just feel that if someone thinking about CC were to look at this thread they'd be put off, when perhaps there is no reason to be.

hi.
I have done 'controled crying' as it gets called with both my children. both are happy and confident sleep all nite and always have done.

We started with sitting on a chair in the room near cot,then chair near door. then left the room laeving it from 1min gradualy staggering the time longer till baby was happy to go to sleep her self.(longest time period was 7mins,over a three nite time scale) we never spoke to them wen we went in,just put our hands on their chest for reasurrance,covered them back up. we didnt make eye contact either. once in the cot we didnt take them out. if they pooed it got changed in cot etc.

I wouldnt say that long periods of time cry ing is damaging but how long is long to some people??

It worked for us.

All babies are different. Controlled crying may work for some, but certainly not all babies. Mums should use their instincts to determine the level of distress in the crying - not the duration of the crying.

It is the distress that raises cortisol levels, not grizzling and tired crying recognizable by most 'tuned in' mothers. Listen to your instincts, not your mother in law!

beammeupscotty - very well said.