Is Sleep Training Harmful to Babies?
"The facts about sleep training are pretty shocking for most people, especially considering most only hear myths and assumptions."
Is Sleep Training Harmful to Babies?
Studies show that sleep training is not harmful or damaging physically or psychologically to babies. It is harder on the parent who cringes at her baby’s cries than it is on the baby. To the contrary, studies show improved physical health and increased attachment between parents and their babies after sleep training. Babies’ mood improves, as does the mood of their parents. Sleep training encourages positive, consistent interactions and healthy routines that promote healthy development in multiple aspects.
However, it is completely understandable that parents avoid allowing their babies to cry. Crying can trigger a stress response in parents and increase cortisol levels, provoking parents to respond. Crying is babies' primary method of communication, so parents are designed to respond to their baby's cries. But how parents respond to babies' cries is strategic during the sleep training process.
There are many different methods of sleep training. Some require more parental intervention and less crying than other methods. Nevertheless, when babies are in loving homes, sleep training is not harmful, even if the notorious “cry-it-out” method is used–otherwise known as “extinction.”
Pediatricians recommend sleep training to families because the physical, emotional, and relational benefits are numerous and impactful. No, every family does not have to officially sleep train if the baby gets the age-appropriate number of hours of quality sleep in a safe environment without doing so. But sleep training has tremendous benefits for babies and their parents.
Benefits of Sleep Training for Babies
Emotional regulation: Self-soothing is an early step in emotional regulation of babies, which is a necessary developmental milestone. And the routine involved in the regime of families who have sleep trained their babies has been shown to facilitate emotional and behavioral regulation.
Stronger immune system: Babies are less likely to get sick as often when they have better quality sleep and more hours of sleep.
Less stress in babies: A study found that babies that had been sleep trained had lower cortisol levels than babies who had not.
Improved learning skills: Sleep is essential to recharge babies’ brains so that they are equipped to learn and explore in an improved fashion. Studies have shown that having a consistent bedtime in early childhood helps children perform better in school as they get older. In contrast, later bedtimes for infants have been shown to result in worse neurodevelopmental outcomes.
More bonding: Multiple studies show increased attachment and bonding between parents and their babies after sleep training. The bedtime routine involved also helps to strengthen the bond between parent and child.
Better mood: Many parents report that their baby smiles more, laughs more, and remains calmer and more content after completing sleep training.
Language development & literacy: Studies show that the bedtime routine involved in sleep training regimes has resulted in improved language development and literacy for children as they grow.
Reduced risk of health complications: Poor sleep in early childhood has been proven to negatively affect children’s physical health; whereas, healthy sleep habits have been shown to reduce the risk of health challenges.
Benefits of Sleep Training for Parents
Less depression and anxiety: One large study showed that when you have insomnia, you're 5x more likely to develop depression, and your odds of anxiety or panic disorders are greater. Another study showed a direct correlation between infants’ sleep challenges and parental depression.
Improved health: Studies show that infant sleep challenges contribute to poor health in their parents. Poor sleep contributes to obesity, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and the list goes on… In contrast, improved sleep means that you’re more likely to experience improved health for your entire family, including a stronger immune system, meaning you’re not getting sick as often, lower blood pressure, healthier heart, and regulated blood sugar.
Less stress: Psychological distress is linked to infant sleep challenges. When infants sleep well consistently daily, parents experience less stress.
Control & Confidence: When babies are on predictable, healthy schedules, parents can plan their days, enjoy healthy routines, and feel much more confident because they have regained a sense of control in the household.
Mood: Sleep regulates hormones, reduces stress, and therefore improves mood.
Marital satisfaction: Studies have shown a correlation between better sleep and more marital satisfaction. This is major because marriage is the most important relationship for parents to keep healthy for their children.
Mental clarity: Sleep improves mental clarity and even improves performance at work and school. It also reduces the risk of car crashes and other types of accidents.
Patience: Because sleep decreases stress and improves mood and mental clarity, it also enables parents to be more patient and flexible. It helps parents be better parents. Raising babies can be stressful, unpredictable, and full of surprises. Parents need adequate sleep to be the most patient and kind parents they can be.
The Cons of Sleep Training
The cons of sleep training are the 1) short-term stress that the crying can induce (using certain methods) and the 2) inconvenience of the monitoring and involvement required during the night (using most methods). Parents are often more tired during the sleep training process than they were before they started because they are monitoring the baby and not using the quick fixes to get the baby to go back to sleep.
The method of sleep training that you choose certainly affects the length of the process. Methods that use only short intervals of time that the baby fusses, followed by checks, tend to be the most popular because they work much faster than “no cry” methods, but they are much easier emotionally than extinction (“cry-it-out”).
Myths about Sleep Training
Unfortunately some people make negative assumptions about what sleep training is and the effects it has on babies. But those beliefs are very limiting and can hinder families from getting the sleep that babies and parents need. Let’s address 5 myths about sleep training and, more importantly, the facts.
The baby will starve during the night.
For babies, nutrition and sleep go hand-in-hand. Quality sleep coaching plans actually require that babies eat more during the daytime and require parents to be intentional to make sure that their babies are eating enough. Also, the results of sleep coaching being more sleep, often causes babies to become more efficient eaters–eating more and growing faster. Babies often gain weight after sleep training!
It’s not safe.
Some people assume that the process of sleep training requires neglect of some sort and is unsafe. Pediatricians, pediatric nurses, and other medical professionals actually recommend it because it’s proven to be beneficial and safe. In fact, quality sleep coaching educates parents on the SAFEST sleeping environment to reduce sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and to prevent strangulation and suffocation in the sleep environment. When babies are not taught how to sleep well independently, unsafe sleep practices often result.
They’re too young to sleep that long.
Babies actually need 11-12 hours of sleep at night! Quality sleep coaching recommends developmentally appropriate schedules for babies. A newborn would not sleep 12 hours at night without eating. But with a proper daytime feeding schedule, 1 feeding during the night is feasible. A healthy 4-month-old that was born full-term and is gaining weight well, can sleep 11-12 hours at night with no night feeding.
It doesn’t work if you’re breastfeeding.
Sleep training works just as well for breastfed babies. Sleep training programs can provide other methods to verify that the baby is getting enough milk, and breastfed babies can sleep just as long as formula-fed babies.
Babies will do more crying.
Ultimately, after sleep training, babies are more content, calm, independent, and confident in their sleep environment and beyond. Many moms report that their babies cry less in the crib and throughout the day after sleep training.
Sleep training is recommended by pediatricians because it promotes a healthy sleep foundation for growing babies who need a good night’s sleep.
