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 Ask Dr. Jana
Hard to Listen to the Crying | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Jana,
Hi. We are trying to train our seven-month-old son to sleep by himself, but it's been just as hard on us listening to him crying. Might his frequent crying cause him any harm? And could the tear drops entering his ears cause ear infection?
Please advise, thank you in advance.— First-Time Mom in Santa Clara, CA | | | ANSWER |
October 17, 2000 | | | Dear First-Time Mom,
I can definitely relate to your situation because I also find it very difficult to hear my own baby cry at night. However, I can assure you that frequent crying does not harm babies who are raised in a warm and caring environment. By the tone of your question, it seems clear that your son is fortunate to have loving parents, and that is what will have the most impact on him. Also, you do not need to worry about tears getting in his ears--this is not a cause of ear infections.
I've found that the best way to cope with getting a baby to sleep on his own is to consider this a learning process. You need to teach him to go to sleep on his own, realizing that this is a valuable skill both for his own comfort and for the sake of his bleary-eyed parents. He will most likely adjust quickly (and quite possibly sleep better) for your efforts.
If you'd like more information about getting a baby to sleep, please look at the sleep concept articles in the Behavior and Development section of our website.
Hang in there!
— by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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