The Disagreement 8: Sleep Training – The "Cry-It-Out" Method
The “Cry-It-Out” method is also known as the extinction method. Here’s what it looks like: at bedtime, parents put the baby in the crib drowsy, but still awake. Then they leave the room and get the baby at a set time the next morning. They don’t respond to crying or protest unless there’s a concern for health or safety. Is this the best way to help a new baby sleep through the night? Or are there better alternatives?
The Guests
Sarah Moore is a conscious parenting trainer and founder of Dandelion Seeds Positive Parenting. Sarah is Board Chair for the American Society for the Positive Care of Children, and the author of Peaceful Discipline: Story Teaching, Brain Science & Better Behavior.
Megan Tucker is a registered nurse, certified lactation consultant and certified childbirth instructor. Megan is the founder of Baby Basics Atlanta, where she works with families of newborn children.
Today we ask a wide range of important questions about sleep training:
What is the best way to help parents get their newborns to sleep through the night?
What are the ethics of the “cry-it-out” method?
How should the parents balance the needs of their children with their own needs?
Show Notes
- Defining the cry-it-out method [04:31]
- Longterm effects of parental responsiveness [08:43]
- Challenges in sleep research [11:54]
- What is the average duration of crying in the cry-it-out method? [14:50]
- Co-sleeping [17:23]
- Sleep training trade-offs [28:31]
- Critiques of sleep training [32:28]
- Impact of less sleep on parents [39:55]
- Reasons why newborns cry [46:19]
- Needs of the baby vs. needs of the family unit [48:23]
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