There are so many different opinions when it comes to whether parents should let their babies cry it out or not.  Some say it doesn’t hurt to let the baby cry themself to sleep while others would argue that this practice only teaches your child that they can’t rely on you for comfort.  Really how you approach this is a very personal choice.  No matter what the experts say or what other parents tell you it is ultimately up to you as the parent to decide if you will let your baby cry it out or not.

There is a very interesting thread on babycenter about this very topic.  A mother asks whether they are damaging their baby by letting him cry himself to sleep.  A pair of emotional health and well being experts respond saying that it is not a good idea to let a baby cry himself to sleep because this teaches the child that he is not important enough to be comforted and that he can’t rely on his parents.  They recommend a method of putting the baby down when he is tired and then using soothing techniques like rocking, singing, or rubbing his back to help him fall asleep.  They suggest that over time the baby will learn that he can rely on you to respond to his needs and will also learn that he can sooth himself.  Their response is very interesting and I would recommend reading it.

Of course, on the other side of the coin are those who practice or recommend letting the baby cry it out.  Several parents also responded, most were advocates of CIO (crying it out), while a few agreed with the experts.  The parents who were for CIO had used this method themselves and had success with it. While others had used methods similar to that recommended by the experts and found it to be very successful.

So really what it boils down to is that whether or not you let your baby cry it out is a very personal choice.  Everyone around you will have advice for you, but ultimately you have to do what you feel most comfortable with.  I personally do let my daughter fuss a little before I respond.  She will sometimes let out a couple of little cries and then fall right back to sleep, if she doesn’t and continues to cry I respond.  At this point I don’t think I would try the cry it out method.  The method I am using seems to work for now.  Of course I am always open to try new things if what I’m doing doesn’t seem to be working.

What are your thoughts on the subject?  Did you try the cry it out method, was it successful?  If you didn’t try the cry it out method what did you try and did it work?