Mythbusting Sleep Training Claims, Science-Style
With all the statements being made by so many about sleep training, most to get parents to get on board, parents should know that most of these statements are myths, not backed by science.
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With all the statements being made by so many about sleep training, most to get parents to get on board, parents should know that most of these statements are myths, not backed by science.
I get a lot of people angry that I speak out against extinction sleep training because it "worked" for them. I thought I'd start a post that allows me to respond publicly to these criticisms so I don't have to repeat myself over and over.
New research suggests stress can be "caught"; that is, mothers can pass their stress onto infants by touch. Does this provide support for sleep training? I am going to show you here why I think it does not at all...
Many people report trying extinction methods of sleep training to "help" their baby sleep better, but what does research tell us in terms of the efficacy of these methods for baby's sleep? Does the reasoning hold up?
A piece is making the rounds claiming that sleep training is a feminist issue. I think it is too, just not the way the original author believes.
You know how everyone keeps saying it's up to us to prove the risk of harm from sleep training? Well, we have the beginnings of this with a new review piece looking at outcomes for sleep training of infants under six months of age.
When you talk about stress and sleep training, you often get two polarized views: Either the stress is so great it has to cause irreparable harm or it's fine or even beneficial. Yet neither really captures the whole story.
The premise behind extinction sleep training is that infants (and toddlers) are being taught to "self-soothe"; however, this ignores key points of what self-soothing abilities can be expected from children and how distressed they are at the time of separation. Instead of focusing on these extinction methods, gentler methods that respect where the child is developmentally should be considered.
The recent piece on sleep training sparked what I believe to be misguided outrage in many people. I want to address some of the issues that were brought up and speak generally about the importance of what we promote to families.
Too often health professionals promote sleep training without it being based on their expertise, but rather their personal beliefs. This leaves parents struggling.