Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool (The ParentData Book 2)

by Emily Oster

A number of academic articles argue against “cry it out” from a theoretical perspective. One good example comes from an article published in 2011 in a journal called Sleep Medicine Reviews.13 The authors of this article presented a case against “cry it out,” largely based on the idea that infant crying is intended as a signal of distress, and parents should therefore not be encouraged to ignore it. They draw on the attachment theories cited earlier (i.e., the orphanage literature), and argue that parents who engage in this are ignoring their children’s efforts to begin communication with them. The fact that “cry it out” works is not compelling to these researchers and, indeed, is an indication of harm. As one article in the journal Sleep put it, “Is the cessation of crying a ‘cure’ or is it that the child has ‘given up’ and is now depressed and has partially withdrawn from the attachment dyad?”14 The primary argument offered by this and similar papers is that infant crying is a signal of stress (probably true) and that stress, even over a short period of days or weeks, may have long-term consequences for babies (this is speculative).