The "controlled crying" debate
My eight-month-old-baby cries two or three times a night and I’m exhausted. I’m desperate to get some sleep – is it worth trying some “controlled crying” when I just leave her to cry, or could this damage my baby?
Being the parent of a baby who is wakeful at night is really
hard; add some confusing and conflicting advice into the mix, and you have an
even tougher job. The simplest answer to your dilemma is that it's your baby
and, therefore, your choice as to how you respond each time he or she wakes in
the night. It's probably worth getting a clear understanding of some of the
underlying factors that might be contributing to the disturbed sleep before
tackling the issue with a technique such as "controlled crying" or
sleep training. You may benefit from spending time with an expert professional
who can support you in looking at whether your baby is feeding enough during
the day, for example, before you're confident enough to try out any sleep
training. Evidence does suggest that sleep training can be effective; the
"controlled crying" technique (otherwise known as "graduated
extinction" or "self-soothing") involves leaving baby in his/her
cot and then waiting (sometimes while baby does cry) for a set number of
minutes, without picking them up, to see if they settle themselves to sleep
independently. A study carried out by Gradisar and Spurrier et al 2016 found
that using the "controlled crying" technique increased the length of
time infants slept and reduced the number of times they woke up at night; when
these babies were followed up twelve months later there was no evidence of any
increased stress levels in the babies and no harmful effects on the parent-baby
relationship. The study was only carried out on around 15 babies, however, and
some professionals have argued that if a baby is left alone and crying for
prolonged periods, and without being comforted regularly by its caregiver, it
may be emotionally harmful and that these babies may show increased levels of
cortisol (stress hormone) in their bloodstream. The key to effective sleep
training is tailoring the technique correctly to fit each unique situation. In
a nutshell, there is no "one-size fits all" solution to the complex
issues that can affect your baby's sleep and, if not carried out effectively,
sleep training may end up being more emotionally distressing for both baby and
for parents. If you would like to work in partnership with an expert to enable you to find realistic solutions to your baby's sleep difficulties so that you can feel confident to make changes, get in touch at mybabysleepcoach.co.uk.