A relative of Grace’s was visiting. So we stopped by for a quick hello. But of course, everybody has an opinion on how to raise YOUR child. Having raised three American children whom are all very successful academically, she instructed us to ignore Bryan’s cries at night so that it’d “help him” sleep through the night. Nothing annoys me more than to have old-schoolers, whose child-rearing knowledge is obviously behind the times, to tell us what to do. She casually mentioned that was the method taught in a book by “Dr. Spock”.
So who was this crazy Spock guy to tell parents that allowing babies to cry through the night is good for them?
And sure enough, Dr. Spock turns out to be a rather famous pediatrician in the United States whose books have helped “millions” of parents raising their children. But I guess 30 years ago when Grace’s relative read his book, the trend was to let babies cry. But 30 years later, Dr. Spock knows better.
But yet there are still pediatricians telling parents to let babies cry!! Who the hell are these people getting their information from? And just how dated is that information? And for all you new parents out there — you go see pediatricians for the health of your baby, not to ask their opinion on how to raise them. Early childhood education is something clearly not their domain. Research after research shows that you need to build trust with your baby for the first 6-9 months of the little being’s life.
So don’t let the baby cry. Pick him/her up and find out why s/he is crying already! Babies can’t talk, crying is the only way they communicate their unhappiness.