Image: iStock
Coming home with a new baby is the most wonderful feeling in the world. You are filled with excitement as you look down on your very own bundle of joy. So it goes without saying that hearing them cry is the last thing you’d want. Parents will go to any lengths to comfort their baby when they cry, as they should. But, there are instances where it is okay and even important to allow your child to learn how to self soothe. Even if hearing them whimper brings a tear to your eyes. A new study shows that rushing to your little one’s crib right away may not be the best choice of action after all. In fact, it states that letting your infant cry alone can be beneficial for them and may not be as horrible as you’d envisioned (1). So if you want proof to turn over a new leaf and let your little one cry it out, then this is the article for you. Read on!
1. It Has No Adverse Effects
Contrary to popular belief, leaving your crying baby alone doesn’t actually have any negative consequences. And this has been backed up by a study done by The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2). In fact, during the course of the experiment no behavioral effects on any infant behavior was found. And even more interestingly, the act of not responding to the crying baby didn’t worsen infant-mother attachment in any way. All this goes to show that leaving a crying infant alone a few times is not harmful for them or for your relationship with them. This, of course, is in the case that your child’s cry does not indicate the need for food, a diaper change or any other health issues.
2. They Sleep Better
There’s nothing wrong with rocking your baby to sleep when they first go down for the night, but to do so every time they wake up may actually do more harm than good. A new study revealed that babies who are left to cry for the reminder of the night actually show better sleep patterns (3), that is, they sleep better. In this experiment the babies were divided into two groups. These were the graduated-extinction group, the babies that were left to cry and the bedtime-fading group, the babies who were put to bed every time they woke up crying. The results were not what you’d expect. The infants from the first group woke up fewer times and fell asleep much faster than those of the second group.
3. It Builds Self Control
This may seem like a no brainer, but it’s hard to fight your instincts and let your child self-soothe. But one advantage of doing so means that they learn to calm down on their own. In fact, the professor who conducted the study on the benefits of self soothing, Wolke, advises against intervening in your baby’s process of calming down and learning to take care of their own needs (4). He explains that babies need time and practice to figure out how to calm down. And in doing so learn to self regulate during the day and at night.
4. They Have Fewer Tantrums
That’s right, maybe letting your baby cry is the solution to your toddler tantrum problem. It’s believed by many that the cry it out technique, as it is most popularly known, helps kids be less restless and troublesome. Since the method requires your child to regulate and comfort themselves without any external help, it’s likely that these babies will go on to have fewer tantrums as toddlers (5). They are also known to be happier during the day and have an easier time falling asleep at night (6). We bet that sounds like a dream!
5. They Learn To Go To Sleep On Their Own
We’re sure you’re wondering why you’d even want them to go to sleep on their own. After all, isn’t the best part about having a baby the fact that you get to cuddle them and sneeze them all night and day? Well yes, but it can also be exhausting to have to wake up every couple of hours or minutes in order to put your baby back to sleep while also being sleep deprived. This can turn this beautiful idyllic dream into a nightmare, or a chore that you don’t enjoy. But practicing self soothing will allow your baby to fall back asleep without your assistance any time throughout the night. This way all you need to do is wake up once or twice in order to change their diapers and you can drift back to sleep as well.
Taking care of a baby is a tough endeavor. But sometimes the hardest thing to do is to allow your little one to look after themselves. However, letting them cry it out from time to time might just be what the doctor ordered!
