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Original poster

effects of CC

294 replies

papillon · 12/03/2004 11:29

i just found this review in amazon.. does anyone agree ... disagree? I have heard of Gina Ford but not Elizabeth Pantley

...Australia the Association of Infant Mental Health have issued a warning against the method of "controlled crying" which she advocates as it can lead to psychological problems!! Gina's job is to train babies, she has no interest in the child's mental or physical (scheduled feeds can lead to dehydration and failure to thrive) well being for the future. She just wants her money for her quick fix methods! She's not even a mother herself, just a baby trainer. Babies aren't meant to be trained, they need to be nurtured and loved and leaving a baby to cry until it believes it has been abandoned and then shuts up to conserve energy is not my idea of caring for a loved one! Dissociation and learned helplessness are not pyschological problems i wish to instill in my baby for the sake of a full nights sleep! This woman makes me so cross! I second the reader (dated the 7th of november) who suggests a far kinder book to look at - "The no-cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. At least she has had children so has some idea what she is talking about!

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marialuisa · 12/03/2004 11:33

You're brave

FairyMum · 12/03/2004 11:34

Well, I don't think much of the CC-methods, but I don't think it's good with parents so tired they are on the brink of nervous breakdowns either. I know plenty of parents who have used CC and swear by it. Not for me, but used with common sense, I think it's a saviour for many parents AND their babies. Have never read the Gina Ford-book. Sounds bit too "routine-freak" for my liking, but I think some of the "hatred" against her seems a bit over the top. Noone's forcing you to use her book for God's sake....

hercules · 12/03/2004 11:35

Dare I say it.. I agree

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secur · 12/03/2004 11:35

Message withdrawn

hercules · 12/03/2004 11:36

much better put FairyMum.
I do think that for some parents cc must be a godsend but personally wouldnt use it.

Hulababy · 12/03/2004 11:37

Well I did CC at Christmas with DD, who was 20 months. I was really sceptical and did it as a last resort really after DD started being unable to settle even in our bed. Within 3 days she was sleeping through for 11-12 hours and she still is. Not looked back and it has been great. DD is so much happier too as she is less tired during the day.

The no sleep colution is fine too but takes much longer and it is a more practical solution. Didn't really work for DD though when we tried some of the suggestions.

I wouldn't have done CC when DD was much younger though. At this age she understood what was happening and why.

Original poster
papillon · 12/03/2004 11:38

Why marialuisa? I suppose it is a tempermental subject but I was alarmed when I read that there is a warning against CC.. and have heard many times in the news that more kids are depressed... not just cause of CC I hope!

OP posts:
hercules · 12/03/2004 11:39

That's true secur but isnt crying a form of communication for a basic need ie attention and if thisd need is not met then what's the point in crying.
Surely cc is a very western world thing and fairly new. Animals dont do it and we are animals.

hercules · 12/03/2004 11:41

When I said on another thread I thought it was wrong to leave a none week old baby to vry for over an hour there was not much support for what i said.
Surely cc should if going to be used more suitable for older children.

hercules · 12/03/2004 11:41

not vry but cry

Hulababy · 12/03/2004 11:41

BTW, not followed any GF info ever anyway so not part of that. And DD hardly cried. Got to 10 minutes or so first night, 5 minutes one after and then pretty much nothing. Now she asks to go to bed

dinosaur · 12/03/2004 11:47

The whole point about "controlled crying" (certainly as advocated by Richard Ferber, never read GF) is that you do not leave the baby alone to think he/she has been abandoned - you choose an interval of time - you can make it as short as 1 minute - and you go in to the baby at each interval, talk to the baby, pat baby's back etc - you just don't pick the baby up.

Haven't read the No-cry sleep solution either.

marialuisa · 12/03/2004 11:47

Papillon, because there's a history of threads like this causing explosions. but maybe everyone's too tired after the private vs state thread?

Original poster
papillon · 12/03/2004 11:48

I support your comment hercules. Yeh I guess CC seems to be a western thing.. we are forgetting that we are animals.. too much brain power or something

OP posts:
Hulababy · 12/03/2004 11:51

Try this Amazon review
and here

Hulababy · 12/03/2004 11:52

hercules - I agree, I could never leave a tiny baby to cry for 1 minute let alone 1 hour.

Original poster
papillon · 12/03/2004 11:55

I am sure its talked about lots. I suppose theory and practise are worlds apart as usual. I wonder if there are any studies done on the long term effects of various parenting styles.
I saw in the news that smacking in the UK might be banned altogether someone must of researched that. I think I saw a thread talking about that today....

OP posts:
nutcracker · 12/03/2004 11:56

I don't particularly like CC but did use it with both of my dd's. With dd 1 i only left her for two minutes ata atime slowly increasing it, but no longer than 6 minutes. It worked within 3 days.
With dd2 i would have done anything anyone has suggested. She didn't sleep through until 14mths old and i was like a zombie. CC didn't work with her though any way.

Original poster
papillon · 12/03/2004 11:57

thxs Hulababy

OP posts:
hercules · 12/03/2004 11:57

What are her methods?

nutcracker · 12/03/2004 11:57

Meant to add, that they were both nearly 1 before i tried it.

aloha · 12/03/2004 11:58

Gina Ford has said quite often that she loves children very much and would have loved to have her own and therefore finds it extremely hurtful that people use her painful experience of childlessness as an insult against her. That really made me stop and think. I think she would say very forcefully that she is extremely interested in the mental and physical wellbeing of 'her' children, and people I know who have met her and talked to her say she is enormously warm and caring in person. Gina Ford does not push controlled crying - she pushes routine, which is very different. In fact she says that if you follow her routine from an early age, you won't need to do cc. I didn't follow GF when ds was a baby and I really doubt he would have fallen into her routines, but I did use elements of her technique to get him into a routine that now really, really suits him and makes him an extremely happy child. I did let my ds cry to get himself to sleep and after 8months of no sleep he finally got the knack. He cried for about 20minutes realised that he might as well go to sleep and woke up happy. I think his ability to go to sleep by himself has been an important factor in his having such a cheerful nature and to me being such a happy mummy.
As for animals....lots of them eat their young!

CountessDracula · 12/03/2004 11:59

I did it with my 8 month old dd and it took 3 nights, went in every 10 mins so she knew she wasn't abandoned. She has slept 12- 14 hours a night since without waking (unless ill). She is a happy and well adjusted child who doesn't spend all day grumpy cos she's been up half the night!

hercules · 12/03/2004 11:59

But we are animals too!

hercules · 12/03/2004 12:02

Can't see how short times for an older baby would be a problem but the quote below is surely refering to longer periods of time rather than what any of the posters on this thread have done.

We never did cc on ds and he certainly slept fine. Just because you don't do cc doesnt mean you'll have a grumpy exhausted baby. How dod people manage before cc?