Cry Baby

Letting babies cry it out when going to sleep isn't harmful, according to a new study by a group of Australian researchers. In a recent Wall Street Journal article "Letting Babies Cry a Bit is OK," babies who cry themselves to sleep incur no long-term psychological harm. The study didn't follow parents who allowed babies to cry for long periods of time, but instead followed parents who either frequently checked on the babies when crying or sat in the room with the infants and gradually lessened the amount of time spent in the room.

The long-term and short-term benefits of children falling asleep by themselves can benefit more than just the child. Families of children who sleep well generally have fewer problems overall. "In the short term, the infants and parents get more sleep," said Judith A. Owens, director of sleep medicine at Children's National Medical Center. "A well-rested parent is going to be a better parent in the daytime."

We generally let our children cry for a bit, usually about 10 minutes or so, before checking on them. That worked well, because nine times out of 10, the child had fallen asleep before the 10 minutes ended. An excellent resource for parents wanting sleep guidance is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. This was the book that helped us solve many a sleep problem--and now all four of our children are usually good sleepers.

Until next time,

Sarah