Babies left to cry 'feel stressed', research finds
Babies left to cry by themselves experienced high levels of stress
Babies who are left to cry by themselves could feel stressed even after they appear to settle, new research has suggested.
A study has found youngsters who are deliberately left to cry themselves to sleep eventually appeared to settle themselves without being comforted.
But, it found, their hormone levels showed they could remain just as stressed by the experience as if they had remained crying.
The method, sometimes called controlled crying, has been a popular parenting choice, with some believing it trains babies to settle into a routine.
A study by Wendy Middlemiss, researched at the University of North Texas, has now examined the effect of the experience on children and their mothers.
Using babies aged four to ten months, her team monitored the levels of hormone cortisol as they were left to fall asleep without comfort from a carer.
Researchers measured the length of time they cried over successive nights, as their mothers waited in a nearby room.
By the third night of the study, infants were found to have cried for a shorter period of time before falling asleep.
But the study, published in the journal Early Human Development, found the levels of cortisol in their saliva remained high.
In mothers, who could hear their babies, the level of the hormone fell in accordance with the time spent crying, indicating they had relaxed as the youngsters appeared to settle.
The study found: "On the third day of the program, results showed that infants' physiological and behavioral responses were dissociated. They no longer expressed behavioral distress during the sleep transition but their cortisol levels were elevated."
Wendy Middlemiss told the Daily Mail: Although the infants exhibited no behavioural cue that they were experiencing distress at the transition to sleep, they continued to experience high levels of physiological distress, as reflected in their cortisol scores.
Overall, outward displays of internal stress were extinguished by sleep training.
However, given the continued presence of distress, infants were not learning how to internally manage their experiences of stress and discomfort.
Researchers are now undertaking a longer study to test how the hormone level is affected as sleep patterns settle over more time.
Dr Middlemiss is a member of the Attachment Parenting International Research Group, the Society for Research in Child Development, the National Council on Family Relations, and the American Psychological Association.
Siobhan Freegard, of the parenting advice website Netmums, told the Daily Mail: I dont think anybody would ever say that you shouldnt use controlled crying it is about getting the balance right.
Babies left to cry by themselves experienced high levels of stress
Babies who are left to cry by themselves could feel stressed even after they appear to settle, new research has suggested.
A study has found youngsters who are deliberately left to cry themselves to sleep eventually appeared to settle themselves without being comforted.
But, it found, their hormone levels showed they could remain just as stressed by the experience as if they had remained crying.
The method, sometimes called controlled crying, has been a popular parenting choice, with some believing it trains babies to settle into a routine.
A study by Wendy Middlemiss, researched at the University of North Texas, has now examined the effect of the experience on children and their mothers.
Using babies aged four to ten months, her team monitored the levels of hormone cortisol as they were left to fall asleep without comfort from a carer.
Researchers measured the length of time they cried over successive nights, as their mothers waited in a nearby room.
By the third night of the study, infants were found to have cried for a shorter period of time before falling asleep.
But the study, published in the journal Early Human Development, found the levels of cortisol in their saliva remained high.
In mothers, who could hear their babies, the level of the hormone fell in accordance with the time spent crying, indicating they had relaxed as the youngsters appeared to settle.
The study found: "On the third day of the program, results showed that infants' physiological and behavioral responses were dissociated. They no longer expressed behavioral distress during the sleep transition but their cortisol levels were elevated."
Wendy Middlemiss told the Daily Mail: Although the infants exhibited no behavioural cue that they were experiencing distress at the transition to sleep, they continued to experience high levels of physiological distress, as reflected in their cortisol scores.
Overall, outward displays of internal stress were extinguished by sleep training.
However, given the continued presence of distress, infants were not learning how to internally manage their experiences of stress and discomfort.
Researchers are now undertaking a longer study to test how the hormone level is affected as sleep patterns settle over more time.
Dr Middlemiss is a member of the Attachment Parenting International Research Group, the Society for Research in Child Development, the National Council on Family Relations, and the American Psychological Association.
Siobhan Freegard, of the parenting advice website Netmums, told the Daily Mail: I dont think anybody would ever say that you shouldnt use controlled crying it is about getting the balance right.
Aww poor bubbas! Xx
