Do the Ezzos teach parents to let their babies “cry it out” and not pick them up and respond to their needs?
No, they do not. The fact is that ALL babies cry. And even the best, most nurturing and most attentive parent could not prevent all crying in their newborn infant–even if they wanted to. That is why the Ezzos devote an entire chapter in both Babywise and Preparation for Parenting to the various normal and abnormal cry periods of infants, and help parents learn to distinguish between them and respond to them sensitively based upon wisdom and understanding, not just emotions. The Ezzo/Bucknam recommendations on crying echo those of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which says in it’s book Caring for Your Baby, “Many babies cannot fall asleep without crying and will go to sleep more quickly if left to cry for a while. The crying shouldn’t last long if the child is truly tired.” In the same book, they also state, “Sometimes you may think your baby is waking up when she’s actually going through a phase of very light slumber. She could be squirming, startling, fussing, or even crying–and
