Controlled Crying seems to be one of the very rare topics in parenting that parents either agree or disagree with. It seems rare that there is a middle ground here.

But are some parents taking it too far? And is it being used as it should be in appropriate circumstances? Does using it inappropriately constitute abuse on a Psychological level?

It would seem that there's a lot of public information that needs to be spread about Controlled Crying. If you read the link provided I think it becomes quite clear that some parents are misusing the strategy. My partner and I were unfortunate to find a mother using Controlled Crying on a 2 day old baby (very very sad).


Of course babies will cry.......
And sometimes you can't do much about it other than comfort your child

Psychologists disagree on the impact of Controlled Crying with some saying there is no effect at all while others express concerns (little research has been done) about the long term affects. Some Psychologists postulate that this strategy teaches children that they cannot rely on others and therefore initiates a problem of trusting others very early in life.

So is Controlled Crying good or bad? Mothercraft nurses advise that if your baby is crying you should pick him/her up to comfort them. Controlled Crying advocates argue that babies cry sometimes and there's little you can do about it and therefore, giving occasional reassurance is sufficient.

There does however, seem to be a problem of people not using it appropriately with some people saying they merely put their child down and leave the room and let them cry. SOmetimes for an hour until they fall asleep


Would you use controlled crying? If so then when? And for what reasons?