Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: Letting Babies Cry Before Bed May Let Them Sleep Better

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Letting Babies Cry Before Bed May Let Them Sleep Better

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Speculations have been rife – both hypothetical and absurd – if it is ok to let babies cry, but in fact, would even serve to dispel belief that it can cause attachment issues between the baby and the parents.

In a recent study conducted by researchers from Flinders University shows evidence that controlled crying methods of babies do not cause any detrimental effects on both the baby and the parent and advising that it is natural for parents to allow their babies to cry at bedtime.

Allowing babies to cry would provide infants with better rest and even helps in brain development among babies as they grow and prepare to sleep.

Study author Associate Professor Michael Gradisar, said that crying is a natural occurrence for babies and is something that should not cause any concern among parents.

‘While it’s well documented that sleep deprivation can cause family distress, including maternal depression, we’re hoping these results will add another element to how parents view their responses and how they manage their own and their babies’ sleep behavior,’ Dr. Gradisar said.

Their study was focused on two common sleep training techniques with 43 babies aged six to 16 months having night-time issues and were grouped into three.

A group utilized a graduated extinction method or controlled crying, designed to allow babies to sleep on their own, with the parents asked to wait for a few minutes to respond after the babies start crying, allowing to comfort the baby but not pick them up from the crib.

The second group, used a bedtime fading method where parents delayed the baby’s bedtime by another 15 minutes in an attempt to let them fall asleep easier.

The time delay could be extended for a few more minutes if the babies were still having problems like bottle feeding and such, which usually occurs around the time babies get into their bedtime.

A control group was also formed where parents were simply provided information on what healthy sleeping habits to apply without the need to apply any of the two studied methods.

After a period of three months, the babies from both sleep-training groups were able to fall asleep at 10 to 13 minutes faster compared to their usual sleeping patterns, with no difference from the control group.

Infants from the controlled-crying group were able to sleep better at night, waking up on an average of only once or twice compared to three times prior to the study, and stress levels among mothers dropped with no signs of stress caused by the test among the babies.

Another proof was taken from saliva samples from babies where it showed less amounts of the stress hormone cortisol.

A year after the test, scientists conducted a follow-up study and found that there were no significant differences with behavioural problems, emotional or attachment issues in both babies and parents who took part in the study.

“A combination of using bedtime fading first, then moving on to graduated extinction could be another good approach and we hope parents of children 6-16 months can become more aware of bedtime fading which helps babies fall asleep at the start of the night,” Dr. Gradisar added.

So to answer the question of it is ok to let babies cry before bedtime? Definitely!

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from NUTRITION CLUB CANADA http://nutritionclub.ca/let-babies-cry/amp/