by Jennifer Powers

Created on: April 06, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2009

Letting a baby cry it out goes against mother nature and is cruel on many levels. Baby and parent begins to form a bond from the first day an infant is brought home. Many parents are told by other mothers to let the babies cry it out, but need to know the repercussions of doing so! When a baby cries, it means they have a need that needs to be met. Whether it is 3 PM or 3 AM, a baby has a different cry for each basic need that he has. How could any parent deny an innocent baby the comfort he deserves and need?

Adults and children communicate through words and body language when they need something, but a baby is unable to tell someone what they need. A baby cries to communicate with us. It is to say they need to be changed, fed, are too cold or too warm, do not feel well, or perhaps they just need some extra love. In the first few weeks of a baby's life, they are bonding with their parents and acquiring a sense of trust for them as well. This bond can suffer if a parent ignores their child's cries. Some think the baby won't remember having to cry it out and while that is true in the long-run, a baby also learns during infanthood that a parent won't respond to their cries.

One needs to ask why a parent would ever allow their baby to cry themselves to sleep. Many parents brag their baby sleeps through the night as early as six weeks because they let them cry themselves to sleep, which is entirely too early for a baby to sleep through. How can parents possibly believe letting a baby cry it out is healthier than helping their baby soothe themselves calmly to sleep? They are also teaching their baby that their cries will go unanswered so there is no need to communicate. A parent risks that a baby will stop communicating with their parents at all because their parent has taught them they won't respond to their cries (since they can't correlate that the parent is letting them cry it out only at night). It is a parents' job to teach the baby to soothe themselves to sleep.

The way to teach a baby to soothe themselves to sleep is a training process for both baby and parent. When your baby wakes up, let him try to work through it on his own after he reaches about 12 weeks of age and the pediatrician agrees that your baby is sufficiently gaining weight. However if after 2 minutes of crying, go and comfort your baby. Do this by offering your baby a pacifier or security blanket if you use them, and pat his bottom while you make sushing noises to calm your baby. As he begins

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