What Is Crying It Out?
It’s a term parents either love or loathe. Today we’ll talk about the theory behind this sleep training technique and we’ll find out exactly what is crying it out and how it can help or hinder your little ones in their efforts to achieve a good night’s sleep.
What does crying it out mean?
Crying it out, controlled crying or CIO is a term used to describe a few different methods of sleep training. It involves letting a baby cry as they learn to fall asleep on their own.
The methods that promote the CIO technique include the Ferber method, Murkoff’s method and Weissbluth’s method among others.
What is the theory behind CIO?
The CIO technique revolves around self-soothing and full extinction (allowing babies to cry without any interaction until they fall asleep or stop).
Leaving babies to cry it out is generally suggested as a technique from around 4 months old onwards, in order to help baby settle into a routine where they are able to put themselves to sleep and keep themselves occupied even when they wake up.
What are the pros and cons of crying it out?
The pros and cons of CIO tend to vary between families. As with all sleep training techniques, what works for some may not work for others.
Some positives of crying it out are…
- It may lead to baby being able to self-soothe
- It may help adjust baby to a consistent bedtime
Whilst the main negative is…
- Emotional stress for baby and parents while crying it out is in progress
If you need any help at all getting your little one to sleep sweetly and deeply through the night, I’m a big supporter of gentle sleep solutions. CIO may not be the best option for you and your baby and I will always respect that. I generally prefer not to use CIO in Sleep Sweet Sleep Deep solutions as I’ve found a gentler approach gets better results.
Sleep sweet and deep my dears! x