Study Suggests Crying It Out Helps Baby Sleep Better
Photo: Think Stock/The BumpTo cry it out? Or not cry it out? That is the question. And that question, apparently, has a shocking new answer.
A new study released by Temple psychology professior Marsha Weinraub supports the idea that a majority of infants are best left to self-soothe and fall back to sleep on their own.
Published in Developmental Psychology, Weintraub – an expert on child development and parent-child relationships — states that, “By six months of age, most babies sleep through the night, awakening their mothers only about once per week. However, not all children follow this pattern of development.”
But just how did they prove that baby’s fair better when they’re able self-soothe?
The study measured patterns of nighttime sleep awakenings in infants ages six to 36 months. Her findings revealed two groups: sleepers and transitional sleepers. “If you measure them while they are sleeping, all babies — like all adults — move through a sleep cycle every 1 1/2 to 2 hours where they wake up and then return to sleep,” Weinraub said. “Some of them do cry and call out when they awaken, and that is called ‘not sleeping through the night.’”
They asked parents of more than 1,200 infants to report on their child’s awakenings at 6, 15, 24 and 36 months. They found that by six months of age, 66% of babies — the sleepers — did not awaken, or awoke just once per week, following a flat trajectory as they grew. But a full 33% woke up seven nights per week at six months, dropping to two nights by 15 months and to one night per week by 24 months.
Curious what it all means?
The findings suggest a couple of things, said Weinraub. One is that genetic or constitutional factors caused early sleep problems. Another takeaway is that it is important for babies to learn how to fall asleep on their own. “When mothers tune in to these night time awakenings and/or if a baby is in the habit of falling asleep during breastfeeding, then he or she may not be learning to how to self-soothe, something that is critical for regular sleep,” she said.
Though the findings here may provide some parents with piece of mind, it is not the end-all be-all of “crying it out.” This is just the result of one study, and while a large number of babies and their parents were surveyed, Weinraub does not suggest this is the norm for every family and every child. If anything, this study is just a careful reminder that letting baby cry it out doesn’t make you a bad parent by any means. Weinraub says, “The best advice is to put infants to bed at a regular time every night, allow them to fall asleep on their own and resist the urge to respond right away to awakenings.”
What do you think of crying it out? Good or bad for baby?
Plus, more from The Bump:
Study Says Letting Baby “Cry It Out” Isn’t Harmful
The Knot Blog
The Nest Blog
no kidding. this is just common sense.
Please respond to an urgent cry (you know the one, it’s the Mommy I Need You Now Cry), that is your child asking for help. You wouldn’t ignore an adult or an elderly person if they were crying out and asking for help would you? Don’t ignore an infant.
There are many cries which aren’t the Mommy I Need You Now Cry, the noisy, fussy, whiny cry is not your child asking for help.
Cry it out is not always the answer. I worked with a family who tried CIO and let their son cry for 6 hours! At 6 hours the parents gave in, he didn’t fall asleep. We used a gentle sleep training technique, helped him learn to fall asleep more independently and he now sleeps brilliantly.
There are so many less traumatic (for both baby and parents) sleep training techniques out there, do your research before leaving an baby to cry.
I agree with this, but its to an extent. I let the moaning/whining cry go on until he goes to sleep. I let actual crying go on for 30 minutes, and screaming go on no more than 5-10 min. And before I leave my baby to cry I make sure all his needs are met. I would never leave my baby to cry for 6 hours. In my mind, if it goes on for more than 30 minutes, something is wrong. Even if nothing is physically wrong, they could be just crying for your attention and whats wrong with giving your babies love and attention when they need it. Maybe they had a bad dream and need to be comforted…we will never know, until they are old enough to tell us what’s wrong.
Hello Ashley,
Enjoyed reading your post, seems you are a perfect mother and I totally agree with your statement ” whats wrong with giving your babies love and attention when they need it.” . If we notice that baby is crying for more than 15 minutes we must look seriously into the matter as our little one can’t speak and share their problem. So must put some extra care and nourishment to them, and I believe all the mom in this world enjoy doing this
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I do not agree with this at all. We are mothers. We choose to have a baby, or have sex rather. Being a mother is a full-time job…that requires tending to our babies every need. If our baby is crying, there is a reason. That is their only way of communicating. Who cares if they just want to be held…isn’t this our duty as a parent? Why have mothers become to selfish in the fact that their “full night of sleep” is more important than their babies comfort? In fact, studies have shown that it is safer for the baby to wake up multiple times through out the night, as the “deep sleep” they fall into can be linked to SIDS. Other studies have shown that letting our child cry it out just exhausts them, they realize that crying for our attention doesn’t work anymore and they give up. Personally, i think that is absolutely devastating. It is natural instinct for us to want to hold our baby when crying, so why are mothers fighting this urge?