Quote:
Originally Posted by Russic
I swear by letting them cry, but my advice is to be very careful with who you mention it to. I have had enough conversations with people that have told me my son will grow up to be a serial killer to last a lifetime. It's a lot like dog training in that if your method is viewed as a little too firm, some people will have no problem telling you what you're doing is wrong. It's not a method for everybody and I would never judge a couple that couldn't go through with it. It worked beautifully for us but it wasn't easy.
I only mention it to parents that are having problems and ask my opinion (or perhaps a message board on the internet... I'm not afraid of you people).
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I don't think you have to be careful who you mention crying it out to as it's fairly accepted as standard parenting practice right now. The only objection I have to it is it really doesn't work for every kid, and I've bolded the parts in your post that can bother people that it doesn't work for. Much like breastfeeding doesn't work for everybody, crying it out doesn't work for everybody - it's not necessarily a matter of not having the mental fortitude to handle the difficulty. My daughter would cry so hard she'd start barfing when we did cry it out with her. With additional comfort and some deep-knee bends, we could get her to go to sleep. Cry it out worked like a charm for my son.
The difficult part with giving new parents parenting advice is nothing will work for your kid like it did for ours. View every tactical piece of advice you get as something you can try, but don't expect it to work for you like it did for me. Cry it out may work. Deep knee bends may work. Going to sleep with your wife's tit in their mouth may work. Who knows. Anyway you slice it it's hell, really.