As a parent, you learn on the job. No-one gives you an instruction manual on parenting when you leave the hospital with your baby (although sometimes I think that would make things a lot easier!) We have to try things to see whether they work for us and our children, it’s all just trial and error and 50% of the time what you try may work and the other 50% of the time it will be a big, fat failure but that’s how we learn. I think as parents we have to make mistakes in order to learn. One of my parenting mistakes was trying the ‘cry it out’ method with Kory.
It wasn’t a nice experience for either of us and I didn’t do it again.
I understand peoples reasons for doing it and that it may work for some but it didn’t work for us. All it did was make Kory more upset and me feel like a terrible mum. In my mind, when my child cries it’s because he needs me, I don’t then want to ignore him, to me all that’s showing Kory is that when he needs me I’m not there for him.
Kory is much happier when I’ve given him a cuddle and let him settle down.
P.S. I’m not in any way saying that you shouldn’t let your child cry it out, if that’s what works for you – brilliant!
At the time it just didn’t work for us.
Have you or do you use the ‘cry it out’ method on your child? Was it for you? How did you find it? Did it work? Let me know in the comments…
Life as The Lonsdales 