Persistence of infant crying, sleeping and feeding problems: need for prevention

Parental use of ‘cry it out’ in infants: no adverse effects on attachment and behavioural development at 18 months

“…Hiscock et al (2007) showed that intervention involving leaving infant to cry it out gradually at 7 months decreased night crying and thus sleeping problems at 10 months and 12 months. This method of leaving infant to cry it out using a graded approach corresponds with the concept of authoritative parenting (Baumrind, 1967) and is consistent with a differential responsiveness framework (van IJzendoorn & Hubbard, 2000;Wolke, 2019). Helping infants to learn how to regulate their crying behaviour is a type of limit setting and considered beneficial when combined with parental warmth (Baumrind, 1967).…”

“…It has been shown that short‐term stress is beneficial in terms of its positive impact on resiliency to stress in later life (Ellis & Del Giudice, 2019; Monaghan & Haussmann, 2015). Differential responding as part of intuitive parenting provides infants the opportunity to soothe themselves by waiting before intervening when crying and allows them to explore ways of self‐soothing, acquiring a first sense of self and regulating their behavioural state (Wolke, 2019). If leaving infants to cry it out is occurring within the context of a warm mother–infant relationship, no adverse impacts have been demonstrated.…”

The better sleep better well‐being programme: Educating and training community healthcare nurses in developing interventions for families of infants with moderate sleep problems: a pilot study

“…Similarly, in a population study in Australia on 5107 infants and their families, Martin and colleagues (9) found moderate to severe sleep problems affected 17% of the infants (9). According to Wolke (4), up to 25% of infants experienced a single regulatory problem but 4% to 10% experienced two or more (4). Furthermore, Olsen and colleagues (7) emphasised that multiple regulatory problems are highly associated with adverse mental health outcomes; having more than one RP has also been found to be associated with behaviour and emotional problems in childhood (7).…”

“…Infant regulatory problems can include difficulties with falling asleep or maintaining sleep after 4-6 months of age or difficulties with feeding and or excessive crying. Regulatory problems have been found to be one of the main concerns of parents of younger and older infants (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Concerns about the infant's health and the parent's distress make regulatory problems one of the most frequent reasons in northern Europe for parents seeking help from healthcare professionals (4).…”

“…Regulatory problems have been found to be one of the main concerns of parents of younger and older infants (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Concerns about the infant's health and the parent's distress make regulatory problems one of the most frequent reasons in northern Europe for parents seeking help from healthcare professionals (4). In a population study in Sweden on 2518 infants aged 6-18 months, Thunstrom and colleagues (5) found 16% of the parents reported their infants had moderate or severe difficulties in falling asleep at night and 30% reported frequent night waking (5).…”