Myspace bulletin: Letting babies "cry it out" causes brain damage

[Auntie Witch]

I'm speechless. I don't know where to even begin. Posted as a myspace bulletin:

Crying it out' damages baby's brain
Dr.Stephen Juan, National Post

CAN LEAVING MY BABY TO "CRY IT OUT" CAUSE BRAIN DAMAGE?
Research suggests that allowing a baby to "cry it out" can cause brain damage. Some 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. M. 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. M. 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 by Dr. Margot Sunderland (Dorling Kindersley, 2006) points out some of the brain damaging effects that can occur if parents fail to properly nurture a baby -- and that means not allowing them to "cry it out." Dr. Sunderland, 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 behaviour 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.

[Penny]

Are babies necessarily unhappy when they're crying? Or is it like a dog barking, and could mean anything from "I'm very miserable" to "I'm a bit bored"?

Genuine question; I haven't been around babies much.

[Dropbear]

Originally Posted by Penny

Are babies necessarily unhappy when they're crying? Or is it like a dog barking, and could mean anything from "I'm very miserable" to "I'm a bit bored"?

Genuine question; I haven't been around babies much.

The Boy Wonder as a baby had a heap of cries.

There was:"I'm a bit resentful that I'm back in bed am am crying while I drift....wah...off..wah wah..wah to .... to ... wah... sleeep....wah "
Hey, Wah, I'm awake, Wah, why haven't you got me up yet".
"I'm unhappy wah howl, waaaaaah distressed because I'm hungry/poopy/wet/unwell WAAAAAAH".

After a bit you sort them out. We did let him cry it out at times but it was very controlled - he never cried continually for more than about 5 minutes before someone went it to soothe him. And we made sure it was never a distressed cry.

Dropbear

[Special T]

It's true! I dropped my baby down a flight of stairs and let him just "cry it out." Guess what happened? Yep, brain damage.

It must be true. Just look at the average intelligence of the people we allow to "cry it out" at certain protests. :P

[AnglRdr]

The article exists.

[Eve MG]

The Science of Parenting by Dr. Margot Sunderland (Dorling Kindersley, 2006) points out some of the brain damaging effects that can occur if parents fail to properly nurture a baby -- and that means not allowing them to "cry it out."

Does that read funny to anyone else? It almost sounds like failing to nurture means NOT allowing them to cry it out.

If I did not let my daughter cry it out when she was going to sleep, none of us would have gotten any sleep for at least a few years, and I'm pretty sure that would have affected everyone's development, too.

[FullMetal]

Originally Posted by Eve MG

Does that read funny to anyone else? It almost sounds like failing to nurture means NOT allowing them to cry it out.

If I did not let my daughter cry it out when she was going to sleep, none of us would have gotten any sleep for at least a few years, and I'm pretty sure that would have affected everyone's development, too.

same thing with halfmetal, he hated and still hates going to sleep... he's a light sleeper so we can't be in the room with him as he drifts, even if he falls asleep in our arms he wakes up and crys when we put him down. it's what he does, it's not a distressful cry, it's not even an emotional cry, it's usually an I'm tired cry... more wimpering... if we never let him cry it out, we'd have had exactly 1 hour of sleep in the past 18 months...

we generally let him cry for 10 minutes before we go see him. and usually it's 5-7 minutes and he's stopped crying...

I'd like to see the original study before passing any judgment. If the neurological changes brough on by "crying it out" were severe enough to debilitate the child in later life, then I'd start to worry. If they only resulted in subtle deficits that didn't seriously hurt the child's normal functioning, then it might just be much ado about nothing.

- Pseudo_Croat

[erinker74]

Yes, yes, we should all pick up our babies the moment they start to fuss. What a load of crud.

[notgillcup]

From what I understand, it is perfectly true that neglecting a baby will impair brain development. As in - giving the baby no attention, no interaction, no comfort. However, I don't think it is widely accepted that using "cry it out" to teach a baby to get to sleep on his own equates to neglect or that it will cause brain damage.

Also, at what age are we talking about and for how long are they crying? The conventional wisdom nowadays is that up until 4 - 6 months, babies cry becuase they need something - attention, a cuddle, to eat, whatever. Approximately after that, "they" say babies should be able to learn to get themselves to sleep, and as long as the parents check that baby isn't ill, have a dirty diaper, or otherwise in some sort of difficulty, it is okay to let the baby cry. In other words, by that stage the cry doesn't have to mean that something is wrong.

FWIW, CIO ("cry it out") can be a pretty contentious topic amoung parenting folk. Presumably the person who posted this on my space is anti-CIO.