Doula Dawn of San Diego

Thought I’d pass along this brief news article [first published in 2006] because for a number of years even Ferber himself (the ‘father’ of sleep training, controlled crying and leaving a baby to ‘cry it out’) stated he would NOT repeat this with his own babies given what we now know to be true about the physiological, psychological, and emotional damage that CIO has on infants, children, and human development. Unfortunately, the ‘controlled crying’ bandwagon that Ferber started many years ago (maybe even with good intentions?) has continued to roll out of control and parents are regularly given this very detrimental advice to ignore their baby’s only means of communication – her cry. We know there are cultures where babies’ needs are met ’round the clock, and as a result, they rarely ever cry. Why shouldn’t this be the case for our little ones as well?

Research suggests that allowing a baby to “cry it out” causes brain damage.

by Dr. Stephen Juan

Experts warn that allowing a baby to “cry it out” causes extreme distress to the baby. And such extreme distress in a newborn has been found to block the full development of certain areas of the brain and causes the brain to produce extra amounts of cortisol, which can be harmful.

According to a University of Pittsburgh study by Dr. DeBellis and seven colleagues, published in Biological Psychiatry in 2004, children who suffer early trauma generally develop smaller brains.

A Harvard University study by Dr. Teicher and five colleagues, also published in Biological Psychiatry, claims that the brain areas affected by severe distress are the limbic system, the left hemisphere, and the corpus callosum. Additional areas that may be involved are the hippocampus and the orbitofrontal cortex.

The Science of Parenting (2006) by Dr. Margot Sunderland points out some of the brain damaging effects that can occur if parents fail to properly nurture a baby — and that includes forcing them to “cry it out.” Dr. Sunderland, who is the director of education and training at the Centre for Child Mental Health in London, draws upon work in neuroscience to come to her conclusions and recommendations about parenting practice.

In the first parenting book to link parent behavior with infant brain development, Dr. Sunderland describes how the infant brain is still being “sculpted” after birth. Parents have a major role in this brain “sculpting” process.

Dr. Sunderland argues that it is crucial that parents meet the reasonable emotional needs of the infant. This is helped along by providing a continuously emotionally nurturant environment for the infant.

Allowing a baby to “cry it out” when they are upset will probably be regarded as child abuse by future generations.

Of all the concerns that parents with a newborn have, the number one question I received over the years is: “How do I get my newborn on a good sleep schedule?”  Most videos, articles and books available on the market regarding newborn sleep schedules have been done by doctors. The major issue with this is that these people have not spent time with families in their homes for days on end. What sets this newborn sleep schedule video apart from the rest is that I have spent over 11,000 hours with families and their newborns for the past 7 years. During that time I discovered that all babies in the beginning are the same. They all have a natural sleep rhythm. After many years of teaching this technique to individual families, and with these same families support and encouragement, I have created the Natural Newborn Sleep Schedule video.

Learn how to avoid those first costly mistakes, which so many parents make. All without the dreaded “Cry it Out”.

The Natural Newborn Sleep Schedule will teach you:

• How to get your newborn on a routine in just the first few weeks, reducing the risk of postpartum depression
• It will address growth spurts, sleep cycles and what is a normal amount of sleep for a newborn, so that you can have a better understanding o f baby
• How often to feed your baby, making it stress free
• How to create a great bedtime routine

The Natural Newborn Sleep Schedule will cover important tips about:

• The importance of swaddling and which proven techniques work
• The use of white noise and what to avoid
• The magic of Twilight feeding

It’s rare of find all of these things in one quick video. This program is “Attachment Parenting” friendly.  It will have long term affects on your baby, also helping reduce behavior problems as your baby grows older.

For only $14.99 you receive the video.  You can download The Natural Newborn Sleep Schedule video right to your computer, no hassle of shipping and playing the waiting game. Start getting better sleep tonight with your newborn.