Cry It Out Baby Settling Method Is 'Safe' And Works, Study Finds

The controversial ‘cry it out’ and ‘controlled crying’ methods for settling babies are safe and they work, according to a study involving more than 2000 families.

Researchers studied 2090 families in the US with babies aged between three and 18 months, and found the majority of them (64%) used one of three common behavioural sleep interventions (BSIs) to help their babies settle themselves to sleep.

The three interventions were:

Parental Presence Method: A parent is physically present in the room where the baby sleeps and tends to the baby at scheduled intervals to help them settle.
Controlled Crying Method: Parents allow the baby to cry for an amount of time before entering the room at scheduled intervals to try and settle the baby.
Cry It Out Method: A baby is left to cry and fall asleep without parents intervening at all.

The researchers discovered that using these methods gave babies more sleep, but didn’t impact on parent-infant bonding.

“Paediatric insomnia is very common and tends to cause considerable distress for families,” explained Flinders University clinical psychology researcher and international infant sleep expert Dr Michal Kahn, who is currently Assistant Professor at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

“In the clinic, we meet parents who haven’t had a good hight’s sleep in months and sometimes years, which of course impacts their mood, cognitive performance (for example, at work), and also the relationships with their partner and baby.

“There is controversy about the safety and even necessity of BSIs, yet claims against these interventions are theoretical in nature, whereas research evidence to date has not provided any indication of short- or long-term adverse consequences of BSIs.

“Our study provides further evidence for the safety of these interventions by demonstrating that parents who had and had not used them did not differ in measures of parent-infant bonding, parent depression, or parent sleep.”

Dr Kahn said that babies whose parents had used controlled crying slept, on average, 18 minutes more per night compared to babies whose parents didn’t use BSIs.

“That adds up to over two hours more night time sleep per week, which is a very meaningful difference.”

The study monitored each baby’s movements in their cots using baby monitoring devices, and also involved parents answering questionnaires.

Parents completed online questionnaires about things like their baby’s sleep, their own sleep, daytime sleepiness, depression levels, and parent-infant bonding.

The researchers found that those babies in the study whose parents used controlled crying or cry it out improved self-regulation faster compared to those who used parental presence or no intervention.

Dr Kahn acknowledged that the controlled crying and cry it out methods are considered controversial, but the study found they are safe, with no short or long-term consequences. And she said there’s no research that proves cry it out in linked to anxiety in children.

“Many have tried collecting data about cortisol levels to determine infant and mother stress levels, infant separation anxiety, attachment, and other emotional and behavioural outcomes,” she said. “None have found evidence for harm thus far.

“I think parents should trust their instincts as much as they can, and educate themselves about the available research evidence. Parenting an infant can be extremely difficult, and parents sometimes look for absolute truths or dos and don’ts to make sense of this confusing and demanding job.

“From these dos and don’t judgment can arise….I think that reducing that judgmental stance is important, remembering there is no one right way to raise your baby.”

In its FAQs document on controlled crying, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners says the method is a technique to help children six months and older learn to settle themselves to sleep. The document also explains that controlled crying is safe, stating: “A number of rigorous Australian studies have looked at the safety of controlled crying”.

32 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 25 Nov 2024
    11:29 am
Didnt work with my eldest. In fact nothing worked and she simply refused to sleep. I was stunned that a young baby could have such staying power. I was exhausted. No one could get her to sleep for more then 30mins and that was at night. During the day 5mins max

- - mom462038 said
  - 04 Jan 2023
    4:49 pm
I tried this more then 30 years ago with my first born. It did not work for me. He cried and cried and cried and got himself into such a state, I had to pick him up

- - Jessica said
  - 03 Jan 2023
    3:37 pm
Nope I can never feel comfortable letting my children cry out in distress

- - Ellen said
  - 30 Dec 2022
    8:48 am
This is just one study, there are more studies done with different results.

- - MummaD said
  - 27 Dec 2022
    8:30 pm
Every baby is different and this won’t work for all.

- - mom93821 said
  - 27 Dec 2022
    5:49 am
Thankful that our babies settled and we never used this method.

- - tessie said
  - 24 Dec 2022
    1:33 pm
I would let my boys cry themselves to sleep at times but only for a short time. You just need to recognise the difference between being overtired and something wrong like having wind or needing nappy changed. I would leave the room but then I’d stand outside their door until they either fell asleep. If their crying didn’t get any worse I’d just wait for them to just fall asleep. I did feel bad though

- - BellaB said
  - 23 Dec 2022
    6:55 pm
No criticism to people who use this, but I found even a few minutes far too distressing for both of us.
- mom93821 replied
  
  28 Dec 2022 , 5:11 am
  I agree and responded to crying and the babies settled.
- - CrystalG said
  - 22 Dec 2022
    2:29 pm
I will never be sold on this.
‘On average 18 minutes longer per night’ in my opinion not worth letting my baby cry it out for 18 minutes benefit.
Crying is a babies way of communicating, it’s a parents role to support their baby.
This ‘research’ does not sit right with me at all.

- - Scientia said
  - 22 Dec 2022
    1:19 am
I’m not sold on this one. When I did some basic research about this when my baby was born, one thing that stood out was a person saying the baby is using crying as a method to seek comfort from its parents, not to cause stress, and that we should think of the baby’s feelings.

- - mom265671 said
  - 21 Dec 2022
    10:28 pm
Yep when done right i can absolutely agree with this! My second now knows how to settle herself to sleep.

- - rovermum said
  - 21 Dec 2022
    10:53 am
It worked for us after learnings from two Sleep School stays.

- - mom101628 said
  - 21 Dec 2022
    12:37 am
It was an amazing about face by the medical profession. Other ways can be done very easily.

- - cassy26 said
  - 20 Dec 2022
    9:10 am
I try not to judge anyone else’s parenting styles but controlled crying/cry it out is definitely not for me… I want my kids to know I’ll always be there for them when they need me and this starts when they’re babies.
- Ellen replied
  
  20 Dec 2022 , 9:12 am
  Yes, I’m with you in this
- - Ellen said
  - 20 Dec 2022
    9:09 am
I disagree. Babies express their needs to the mother (or caregiver) through crying. Letting babies “cry it out” is a form of need-neglect that leads to many long-term effects. Consequences of the “cry it out” method include: It releases stress hormones, impairs self-regulation, and undermines trust.
- Ellen replied
  
  20 Dec 2022 , 9:10 am
  See also https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/moral-landscapes/201112/dangers-crying-it-out
- - sars_angelchik said
  - 20 Dec 2022
    8:53 am
I used controlled crying/cry it out/ settling in their cot methods- they do work and I’ve been saying it for years! My kids sleep very well. Parenting doesn’t need to be hard.

- - Motherhoodmama said
  - 20 Dec 2022
    8:26 am
Interesting read! I’ve never done controlled crying but definitely considered it with my twins.

- - mom489365 said
  - 20 Dec 2022
    7:09 am
Every child is different, my boys worked well with the controlled crying but my daughter didn’t. Both my boys learnt to settle themself within a week or 2, but my daughter never did. We also tried sleep school with her and that didn’t work. She finally learnt to sleep after 3 years when her baby brother was born.

- - TraceyGail said
  - 20 Dec 2022
    7:09 am
I did the controlled crying method and managed but Cry it Out would break my heart. I wouldn’t want them to go to bed like that.

- - Danicastefanie said
  - 20 Dec 2022
    6:59 am
I couldn’t do it. I’ll let my baby cry for a time but ill go in and help them settle of its continuing past just a tired cry. Each to their own though. Were all just doing our best