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.
New research suggests that extremely unsettled babies have a much higher risk of mental health problems in childhood. The question is now what we do with this, and I have a few ideas.
New research examines the effects of acute stress on cognitive functions in infants. Contrary to the idea that "a bit of stress is good for them", this research finds that stress inhibits flexible thinking.
Separation anxiety is a normal, natural stage for babies, but that doesn't make it any easier on the caregiver. Here are some tips to help parents through this sometimes trying stage.
Something happens. Your child starts to cry. You expect them to run to your arms as they have all along, but this time something is different. This time they run away from you.
"Gentle" parenting or sleep training is making the rounds as an "it" thing, but is all of it actually gentle? Sadly there are too many wolves out there dressed up as sheep and it's up to us to identify the real gentle help from the pretend stuff.
The topic of stress-release crying is a tricky one because people's understanding of it is lacking. The fact remains that even infants who experience this type of crying need to be responded to and supported during this time.
The Daily Mail summarized Gina Ford's 8 Golden Rules in one of their pieces. I'd like to discuss them all one by one in hopes of showing how these rules need to be amended.
Click here for Rules #1-4 Source: The Daily Mail Rule #5: Let your baby cry for up to 12 minutes each night before it goes to sleep. Note: Online it says 5-10
I hear people argue all the time that we don't need to be as responsive to our children because there aren't wild animals anymore. We couldn't be looking at the issue any more wrong if we tried.
