As discussed, research has proven that controlled crying does not work. The baby still has extremely high levels of cortisol even after they stop crying. This means that babies are still extremely stressed which has negative effects on their development.
Cortisol: the stress hormone. One concern that critics of controlled crying raise is that this parenting technique changes infant physiology and alters the production of the stress hormone cortisol.
Yes, research does seem to show that letting your baby cry for a short, predictable spell has no adverse stress responses and no long-term harmful effects on your child's emotions or behaviour. But it's really important, says Rachel, to make sure you: Don't use controlled crying on a baby younger than 6 months old.
Now researchers say they have found that leaving infants to cry has no impact on their behavioural development or their attachment to their mother, but may help them develop self-control.
If you apply the technique properly, your child should not cry for much more than an hour. Don't give up. Be consistent. The first three nights will be gruelling, but after this you will see a considerable improvement.
27% had no success with controlled crying, 27% said it worked for a night or two, and 8% said it worked for at least longer than a week. That being said, this is one study among many that either support or opposes the controlled crying method.
Comfort settling, or controlled comforting, is sometimes recommended for babies aged 6 months and older. The idea is for your baby to learn how to fall asleep on their own.
With this approach, you leave your child for increasingly longer intervals between coming back to their cot to check on them. Ferber recommends that the longest interval is no more than 10 minutes between checks. This is sometimes known as a controlled crying or self-soothing method.
It's OK to let your baby cry if the baby doesn't seem sick and you've tried everything to soothe your baby. You can try to leave your baby alone in a safe place, such as a crib, for about 10 to 15 minutes. Many babies need to cry before they can fall asleep. And they'll nod off faster if you leave them to cry.
Although you shouldn't leave your baby to cry for long periods of time, it may be reassuring to know that letting a six month old cry for a short, predictable, spell will not do them any harm (Gradisar et al 2016, Price et al 2012, Reuter et al 2022).
If you think your baby or child is suffering from separation anxiety then it can be kinder to use a gradual method of sleep training rather than a technique like controlled crying. Some studies have even shown that using controlled crying can cause emotional difficulties later in your child's life.
Ferber aka Controlled Crying or Check and Console Method
The Ferber method focuses on implementing longer time intervals gradually. On the first night, the parent visits after 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then every 10 minutes until the child is asleep. Each night thereafter, the intervals between visits get longer.
You'll feel better afterwards
When you cry for emotional reasons, those tears contain stress hormones that help relieve the body of stress-induced chemicals. You're quite literally shedding stress.
The physical downsides of crying are pretty straightforward: puffy eyes, splotchy skin and a headachy feeling that can be chalked up to the strong contractions of your facial muscles while you weep and pressure in your sinuses from the runny nose that accompanies a tear-fest.
To conclude, ignoring your child's cries will prevent them from being able to communicate with you, trust you, and can stunt their emotional growth. Instead of ignoring the cries, it is often better to acknowledge the crying, be empathetic and compassionate, and be consistent with them.
Researchers have also found that babies who are regularly left to cry for long periods are likely to experience overactive adrenaline systems, which can lead to aggressive and impulsive behaviour.
How long to let a baby cry it out? For the cry-it-out method, you let your baby cry until they fall asleep, and rest assured they will. Some babies may protest for 25 minutes, others 65 minutes, and some even longer. It's important not to put a time limit on it (that's a different sleep-training method).
Prolonged crying can lead to a state of exhaustion for a baby, which can cause them to become less alert and less able to interact with their environment. When a baby is crying, they are using a lot of energy and expending a lot of physical effort.
Newborns are not typically capable of self-soothing, and encouraging them to do so can be harmful, as their sleep patterns are irregular, and they need to eat frequently to gain weight. By around 3 or 4 months , it is possible for some babies to self-soothe.
Depending on their age, there are a range of strategies you can use to reassure a baby without picking them up or feeding them. Verbal reassurance, patting, retucking them into bed (if they are old enough for a blanket)are all part of a solution which doesn't involve leaving a baby crying.
Cry it out means leaving the baby to cry and parents not responding to them at all. Controlled crying is when parents do check in on the baby to let them know they're there, but do not respond to the crying or soothe the baby.
Alternatively, pick your baby up, wind them, then put them in the cot and soothe them. Leave them for 2 or 3 minutes and repeat the process. You can try leaving them a little longer each time but never more than 5 minutes. Your baby will quickly learn to self settle if you follow simple routines like this.
Crying, difficult as it is to hear, is a normal way babies communicate hunger, discomfort, distress, or a need for your attention. Most newborns reach a crying peak at about 6 weeks. Then their crying starts to decrease. By 3 months, they usually only cry for about an hour a day.