| Leave baby
to cry... and beat post-natal blues
Letting
baby cry is good if it's done in a controlled way, according to
researchers. It also helps with post-natal depression
Mothers taught 'controlled-crying' techniques that allow them to
let their babies cry themselves to sleep have better nights and
suffer less post-natal depression, according to research just
published in the British Medical Journal.
Two generations ago, leaving babies to cry was the favoured
method for teaching children to sleep and many experts now agree it
could work well again if mothers were properly supported, the BBC
reported yesterday.
Australian researchers studied 156 mothers, with children aged
between six and 12 months, suffering from severe sleep
problems.
They gave one group advice on how to let their babies cry,
sleep-management plans, information on normal sleep patterns and how
to manage problems.
The other group was told about normal sleep patterns but got no
advice about managing the problems.
Paediatrician Harriet Hiscock and her team taught parents
controlled-crying techniques such as how to respond to an infant's
cry at increasing time intervals to teach it to fall asleep
alone.
She also advocated consistent daytime naps and bedtime
routines.
Parents were asked to keep sleep diaries and routines were
individually tailored to meet families' needs.
Researchers found they were able to solve nearly 90 per cent of
babies' sleep problems using the controlled-crying methods, meaning
far fewer women needed help for post-natal
depression.
Dr Hiscock recommended the system to other
professionals.
'The intervention reduced the need for other professional sleep
services, was acceptable to mothers, was of low cost and was
minimally disruptive to families in contrast with many current
strategies employed for post-natal depression,' she said.
She added she would now like to see the study extended.
Ms Penny Hames, of Britain's National Childbirth Trust, and
author of Help Your Baby To Sleep, told the BBC the study showed the
benefits of training babies to sleep alone by using methods used in
years gone by.
'This is what our grandparents used to do - pottering about
downstairs and then popping in every few minutes to see how the baby
was sleeping,' she said.
But she stressed there were other ways of dealing with sleep
problems and said she advocated the child sleeping with its
parent.
'This is the way children sleep in other cultures,' the author
said.
May 2002
| 
