Ignoring Children's Bedtime Crying: The Power of Western‐oriented Beliefs

Abstract

Ignoring children's bedtime crying (ICBC) is an issue that polarizes parents as well as pediatricians. While most studies have focused on the effectiveness of sleep interventions, no study has yet questioned which parents use ICBC. Parents often find children's sleep difficulties to be very challenging, but factors such as the influence of Western approaches to infant care, stress, and sensitivity have not been analyzed in terms of ICBC. A sample of 586 parents completed a questionnaire to investigate the relationships between parental factors and the method of ICBC. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Latent variables were used to measure parental stress (Parental Stress Scale; J.O. Berry & W.H. Jones, 1995), sensitivity (Situation-Reaction-Questionnaire; Y. Hänggi, K. Schweinberger, N. Gugger, & M. Perrez, 2010), Western-oriented parental beliefs (Rigidity), and children's temperament (Parenting Stress Index; H. Tröster & R.R. Abidin). ICBC was used by 32.6% (n = 191) of parents in this study. Parents' Western-oriented beliefs predicted ICBC. Attitudes such as feeding a child on a time schedule and not carrying it out to prevent dependence were associated with letting the child cry to fall asleep. Low-sensitivity parents as well as parents of children with a difficult temperament used ICBC more frequently. Path analysis shows that parental stress did not predict ICBC. The results suggest that ICBC has become part of Western childrearing tradition.

The association between baby care books that promote strict care routines and infant feeding, night‐time care, and maternal–infant interactions

“…Allowing an infant to cry for an extended period of time can raise stress hormone levels (Engert et al, 2010), which may programme the nervous system to be overstimulated (Loman & Gunnar, 2010). Conversely, infants who are kept close to their caregivers cry less frequently than those who are separated (Maute & Perren, 2018; St James-Roberts, Alvarez, Abramsky, Goodwin, & Sorgenfrei, 2006). A small randomised controlled trial found that 6-week-old infants, who were carried frequently during the day, cried and fussed 51% less between the hours of 4 pm and midnight (Hunziker & Barr, 1986).…”

Behavioural sleep interventions in infants: Plan B – Combining models of responsiveness to increase parental choice

“…Prominent in westernised society, the first theoretical approach suggests having infants self‐settle is essential to infants' progress towards self‐regulation and independence . Parental cognitions are moulded by western societal expectations of early independent sleep and culturally specific norms for infant sleep, which in turn influence parental desires to attend or not to attend their sleep disturbed infant .…”

“…Parental cognitions are moulded by western societal expectations of early independent sleep and culturally specific norms for infant sleep, which in turn influence parental desires to attend or not to attend their sleep disturbed infant . Some studies report that Parental Presence at sleep time is ‘maladaptive and… intrusive’ and an accepted part of neo‐liberal Western childrearing practices which may place proportionally greater importance on individualist parenting approaches . Indeed the majority of work in this field has been undertaken in these urban Western samples …”

“…Further, attachment theorists suggest that not responding at bedtime/overnight can have negative impacts on the infant mental health and parent/child attachment . Evidence to support or refute these claims is sparse, and although two studies have reported no detrimental effects of ignoring over time, they cannot ascertain no impact of ignoring interventions as they could not strictly control other infant and parent variables over time, so doubt remains. Until more data is presented, the status quo has led some to propose that this situation is comparable to trying to balance the expectations of western culture with primal parental instincts.…”

“…Evidence to support or refute these claims is sparse, and although two studies have reported no detrimental effects of ignoring over time, they cannot ascertain no impact of ignoring interventions as they could not strictly control other infant and parent variables over time, so doubt remains. Until more data is presented, the status quo has led some to propose that this situation is comparable to trying to balance the expectations of western culture with primal parental instincts. So, the outcome of promoting ignoring techniques to parents who are advocates of an attachment based theoretical framework, can make things worse rather than better.…”