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Should babies be left to cry?
An economics professor Emily Oster has caused outrage from some parents on social media. For saying that leaving babies to cry makes them sleep more soundly and does not do any harm to their development. Some parents have also agreed with her and it has caused a furious debate.
The author of a new book on parenting called Cribsheet has said that her research shows that letting a baby cry until it falls asleep, is the best thing to do to teach it to get back to sleep quickly, without it being disturbed.
But we spoke to a few new mums at a parenting group who did not agree with her claims. Joanne one new mum said I think the claims are damaging and against the call of nature.
Another Clare said parents do not buy into this. If your baby is crying its because they need you. They maybe crying because they need something food, or are too hot or cold or just need a cuddle. Yet another said if I woke up at night upset, I hope I wouldnt be ignored and left.
Some parents agreed with the author one mother said she and her siblings were left to cry and it never did her any harm.
Sleep training or controlled crying is where a parent does not respond to a crying baby during the night, She found in her research that babies who were sleep trained on average slept better.
In many studies, parents said their babies were happier after sleep training than they were before. It also included less maternal depression and better marital satisfaction.
Do you agree that babies should be left to cry?
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