Leave your baby to cry, scientists say - Telegraph.co.uk

A parent using the method might leave their baby to cry for five minutes at first, before going to soothe them.

They would then leave and wait 10 minutes before going in again, then 20 before the next intervention, and so on.

An alternative method studied by the researchers was “camping out,” where the parent waits in the baby’s bedroom for it to fall to sleep.

The researchers from the University of Melbourne sampled 326 babies who were all at least seven months old and followed them up five years later to see whether those who had been subjected to sleep interventions had suffered any long-term harms or benefits.

They also studied the mother’s experience.

They concluded: “Parents and health professionals can confidently use these techniques to reduce the short- to medium-term burden of infant sleep problems and maternal depression.”

The scientists carried out their work following concerns that behavioural infant sleep interventions, although demonstrated to be effective in the short to medium-term, could ultimately harm children’s emotional development and subsequent mental health.

Their findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, appear to contradict those of another recent study suggesting that babies who are left to cry could feel “stressed” even after they settle down.