TALKING of divided opinions, there has been one other issue in the news which many of us will have faced – and come down firmly on one side or the other.
Should you let your baby cry itself back to sleep?
Those in favour of ‘controlled crying’ believe that a little tough love means their offspring will learn to put themselves back to sleep and therefore sleep better.
Those in the ‘controlled cruelty’ camp believe the opposite, namely that the effect of leaving a baby crying will cause harm, whether that be psychological or physical, to the baby in future years.
The media recently reported a new study which, in the stories I read, suggested that, on balance, controlled crying was the way to go.
I’m sure this soothed the many parents who believed that the stresses and travails of leaving a baby in tears when every instinct tells you to pick him or her up and give comfort was the right way to go.
And I’m sure those who believed the opposite will continue to believe that no (sustained) cry should go unheeded and a cuddle should be given when needed.
As the parent of a toddler I’ve faced this problem and we followed one of the paths above – and speaking to other (relatively new) parents, I’m not sure that it was more successful than the other.
There are lots of people for and against both methods on the Daily Telegraph website, but among the name calling one poster sums up the issue for me: “Both parents agreement on the approach and sticking to it is far more important than the approach itself.”
