Cruel and Unusual…..

If the first thing that came to your mind when you read that title was our broken justice system, then I agree. Improbably for me, it wasn’t where I was going with this blog post today but solitary confinement would be the closest and most accurate comparison to the topic of today’s post- the “cry it out” method.

You see a baby that is still too young to get out of its crib on its own, is IN FACT helpless and at our mercy, just like a prisoner in solitary confinement.

Neither one has any real way to mark time, so hours can seem like days and often do. The difference is that adult prisoners are aware that their solitary confinement will eventually end.

Babies aren’t.

Research has proved that solitary confinement does LASTING DAMAGE to prisoners so how much more so to a baby that has no reason to believe that a parent or caregiver will come back on hearing their cries. In fact, this phenomenon has been studied too and found to have long-lasting, negative effects:

Elevated blood pressure

Elevated cerebral pressure

Erratic fluctuations of heart rate, breathing, temperature

Suppressed immune and digestive systems

Suppressed growth hormone

Apneas

Extreme pressure on the heart, resulting in tachycardia

It can even re-establish fetal circulation, as the part of the heart known as the foramen ovale…