What You May Not Know About The Cry It Out Method...
What is the cry it out method? Cry it out is the practice where you allow your baby to cry for a specified amount of time before offering comfort. Many people including some pediatricians view any form of cry it out to be unnecessary and potentially damaging to baby.
Dangers of cry it out?
- Babies grow from being held. Their bodies get dysregulated when they are physically separated from caregivers.
- Babies indicate a need through gesture and eventually, if necessary, through crying. Just as adults reach for liquid when thirsty, children search for what they need in the moment. Just as adults become calm once the need is met, so do babies.
- There are many long-term effects of undercare or need-neglect in babies (e.g., Bremmer et al, 1998; Blunt Bugental et al., 2003; Dawson et al., 2000; Heim et al 2003).
- When a baby is greatly in distress it creates conditions for damage to synapses, network construction which occur very rapidly in the infant brain. Cortisol is a neuron killer and is released in excess when baby is in distress. [1]