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Should you let your baby cry it out?
Mid Sussex Times, December 2015
Many books have been written about letting a baby “cry it out” until they fall asleep. They range from fully leaving your baby completely by themselves to cry with no interaction from the parents at all to the “controlled crying” methods where the parents gradually leave their baby for longer and longer.
Most parents will say that they can’t bare listening to their newborn screaming for one minute let alone the time it takes them to exhaust themselves until they fall asleep. I think this natural instinct is enough to tell you that crying-it-out isn’t a natural process for a mother to let her baby go through. However, there may be some middle ground and this is individual to the baby and how effective this method will be.
There is also science showing that crying it out increases a baby’s stress hormones and seeing as it is these exact same stress hormones that are responsible for waking us up naturally in the morning it makes sense that crying it out is the exact opposite of what you should do to help your baby sleep. A baby left to cry is in fact becoming more awake. If they eventually do fall asleep then it is more from exhaustion than anything else and they will be very much less than happy with their parents at not coming in to comfort them!
I feel that it is better to get to the root cause of why a baby isn’t sleeping rather then trying to let them cry-it-out with that problem still an issue. Let’s take one example. A baby may not like laying on their back because of a particular sort of delivery, this is actually common after a C-section or at the other end of the spectrum a long delivery that may have been assisted with instruments. Both babies can find laying on their back uncomforatble, so they simply won’t sleep well because this is how you are told to lay them in bed. But it’s not their fault, it’s not something you have to sleep train them out of. There is little point in letting them cry for ages to encourage sleep.
What is far, far better is to have cranial osteopathy very gently unwind the birth tensions which then naturally let’s them be comfortable on their back and then naturally fall asleep with gentle cuddling, encouragement from the parents. If you would like to have a friendly chat about any baby issue then please feel free to call Christian on 01444 410944.
Christian has been an osteopath and naturopath for 19 years. He set up The Perrymount Clinic in 2009 and specialises in treating babies and children. The Perrymount has won numerous awards and Christian has won the prestigious Complementary and Alternative Medicine practitioner “Community” award for his work with babies. Christian’s mission is to educate parents so they understand there is help for them and their crying, upset, not sleeping baby. In 2014 Christian wrote the book Calming Colic - How To Help The 10 Causes of Colic & since has written numerous other e-books all focused on helping mother and baby. This book is available to purchase at www.calmingcolic.com and you will receive 6 other mother and baby help e-books completely free. Calming Colic takes you through all the reasons a baby can be upset and hoe to help them immediately and even with their future health because colic can be a predictor of future health issues.
The 90 page Calming Colic book is available to purchase as paperback or download.
Watch a video on the top causes of your baby being colicky, upset, crying and not sleeping by clicking below.
Are you struggling with your baby? Did this article help you understand why your baby is upset? We can help! If you live local to Haywards Heath then you may like to bring your baby in for help, if so call us on 01444 410944 or fill out the form below and we will call you back soon. If you aren’t local then your next best option is to purchase The Happy Baby Project which contains all the advice I give parents on how to help their baby now and into the future.
Just a few of the testimonials from happy mothers and babies achieved by using cranial osteopathy and the guidance in the book Calming Colic and the 6 baby help e-books written by Christian Bates
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The Perrymount Clinic
Unit 5
Hurstwood Grange
Hurstwood Lane
Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH17 7QX
01444 410944
info@theperrymount.com