Source: Guardian >> Read full article and comments

Penelope Leach says it is a fact that leaving a baby to cry for hours is harmful. That’s common sense, not science

Ann Robinson
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 22 April 2010 17.36 BST\

“It is not an opinion but a fact that it’s potentially damaging to leave babies to cry,” says parenting guru Penelope Leach, who has a new book to sell. This “statement of fact” pitches her against her fellow guru, Gina Ford, who says babies need to be trained into docility by crying themselves to sleep.

But Leach claims she has science on her side. She quotes tests in which levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, are measured in the saliva of babies left to cry. Apparently the levels are high and this can be toxic to the developing brain. Leach says that babies cry to get a response and if they don’t get one, they get stressed. Ignoring their needs can contribute to anxiety later in life, she warns.

Leach dispels a few myths: babies don’t cry to exercise their lungs and they’re not sophisticated enough to cry just to torture their tired carers. Leach has done previous research following 1,200 mother-and-baby pairs from birth to primary school and found that a child’s wellbeing is less a matter of who cares for them and more to do with how responsive the carer is to the child’s needs…. Continue reading