Study: Let Babies Cry To Sleep, It’s Safe

Babies cry when they try to sleep, which means this habit should not bring worries to the parents. According to a study, allowing the babies to cry will not lead to a long term emotional problem.

The babies cry due to "graduated extinction", a technical term for the practice of "crying it out". Based on the findings, such practice is considered a good training method of sleep. In a research conducted in Australia, 43 sets of parents were enrolled, whose babies have sleeping issues. These babies were between six and 16 months old, and one-third of the parents observed graduated extinction. In this process, the parents were asked to leave the room once they have already placed their child to bed.

When the babies cry, they must wait a while before coming into the room to bring comfort to the crying baby. Within the study period, these parents were told to extend their waiting periods little by little, according to US Magazine.

On the other hand, the remaining set practiced "bedtime fading." This new sleep training technique allowed the parents place the baby in bed, which is near to the actual time the baby normally falls asleep. Not like the first set, the parents were not told to leave.

After the three-month of study, the babies in the first set, who cried out, were observed to have slept an average time of 13 minutes, which is faster compared to the controls. The amount of time the babies woke up in the middle of the night were notably less as well.  With the second group, the babies slept 10 minutes faster than those who did not try the new sleep training techniques. Yet the babies and those in controls had the similar frequency levels of walking up in the middle of the night.

According to Psychologist and Sleep Expert Michael Gradisar, the combination of employing a bedtime fading initially, then going to the graduated extinction may be one additional good approach, Inquisitr reported.

The findings of the study about babies crying were included in the journal Pediatrics on May 24.