Carol | December 31, 2011
Mothers, Protect Your Babies From Crying-it-out
Dangers of “Crying It Out”
http://www.psychologytoday.com/print/81755
“Letting babies get distressed is a practice that can damage children and their relational capacities in many ways for the long term. We know now that leaving babies to cry is a good way to make a less intelligent, less healthy but more anxious, uncooperative and alienated person who can pass the same or worse traits on to the next generation.”
“Forcing ‘independence’ on a baby leads to greater dependence…”
“Ignorant behaviorists then and now encourage parents to condition the baby to expect needs NOT to be met on demand, whether feeding or comforting…”
“Crying it out “is more likely to foster a whiney, unhappy, aggressive and/or demanding child, one who has learned that one must scream to get needs met. A deep sense of insecurity is likely to stay with them the rest of life…”
“The fact is that caregivers who habitually respond to the needs of the baby before the baby gets distressed, preventing crying, are more likely to have children who are independent than the opposite…”
“One strangely popular notion still around today is to let babies ‘cry it out’ when they are left alone, isolated in cribs or other devices. This comes from a misunderstanding of child and brain development.”
- “Babies grow from being held. Their bodies get dysregulated when they are physically separated from caregivers…”
- “Babies indicate a need through gesture and eventually, if necessary, through crying. Just as adults reach for liquid when thirsty, children search for what they need in the moment. Just as adults become calm once the need is met, so do babies.”
- “There are many longterm effects of undercare or need-neglect in babies (e.g., Bremmer et al, 1998; Blunt Bugental et al., 2003; Dawson et al., 2000; Heim et al 2003).”
- “Secure attachment is related to responsive parenting, such as when babies wake up and cry at night.”
The article has much more information and some great references and links. Please click through.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/print/81755
Category: Parenting Attachment, Parenting Cry it Out |
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