How long do u let an 8 weeks old baby cry

[TraciG]

I read that 5 minutes then u pick her up which I do sometimes before that.

[puglucy]

In what context? I feel that, with newborns, their cries shld be responded to as soon as possible.

Of course, there are times when the crying stresses you out, & you can't seem to console the baby. in that case, I think it's wise to put the baby down in a safe place until you're calm.

But otherwise, I'm not sure of any benefit to letting them cry per se . . .


hth,

Lucy\r\nAlex 3/18/03

[wendmatt]

I don't think you should let an 8 wk old cry. It's their way to communicate so should be responded to immediately. I totally agree with Lucy, unless you need to walk away as you are so stressed out and need to breathe, they should not be left.

[Rachels]

She cries because she needs you to respond to her! I'd do so immediately.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/T051200.asp#T051204

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[Momof3Labs]

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not anti-CIO, when used at a proper age and in a controlled context.

IMO, an 8 week old baby's cries should be responded to as soon as possible; immediately is ideal.

[flagger]

Remember an eight week old baby is NOT a newborn. There is no set amount of time you should let a baby cry. It is whatever you are comfortable with. There are times when you need to take time for you after eight weeks. Good luck and remember this too shall pass.

[amp]

While there are times when a baby will cry and there's not much you *can* do (ie - just plain fussy even when held, you need to use the bathroom, shower, etc), I could not let my son cry for more than a couple of minutes at that age. I figured, crying is his only mode of communication that something isn't right and I need to fix it. Sometimes it's feeding, sometimes is a diaper, sometimes it needing a nap or a change of activity, and sometimes it's just because he needed some loving and holding. I wouldn't try to time it in any way. Picking her up when you can, shows her that you will attend to her needs and help her to feel content, loved and safe.

[liamsmama]

I always pick my son up when he's crying. I don't believe that responding quickly will spoil him.

[jesseandgrace]

I agree with everyone. The best thing you can teach a baby this age is that they are important enough that someone will respond when they cry. The old opinions that you can spoil a baby at this age are no longer considered valid, the recommendation now is that you respond to the baby right away unless you absolutey can not. A baby that has his/her needs met this young actually cries less when older because he/she is more secure.

[lisams]

At that age, I responded as soon as I could when DD started crying. I found that if I had to let her go for more than a minute or two, she got so wound up it was even harder, and nearly impossible, to comfort her. This usually only happened when I was in the bathroom, or really couldn't get to her in time. I think responding as promptly as you comfortably can helps nip those huge "cry fests" in the butt.

Good luck, and hang in there! Those first few months are hard, you're getting close to the real rewarding age where they interact more. It gets better and better, just hang in there!

Lisa

[jojo2324]

I would go to her right away, especially given her age. DS was a big crier, so there were times, like Flagger said, where I would just have to put him down to calm myself. But most times, when he cries, I can't focus on anything anyway (this is still true at 18 months). It renders me pretty much useless...Hard to describe, but I guess fingernails on a chalkboard type feeling? Even if he doesn't calm down, I still feel better tending to him than not.

[starrynight]

JMO but I don't think an 8 week old baby should be left to cry for any set amount of minutes especially not 5 full minutes. I always got to all of my kids as fast as I could at that age. I tried to keep the crying down to a minute or two and even less if I can get there faster. I'm not against cio in an older child when necessary but in general I'm not a big fan of it.

Are you trying to get her to sleep at night or what situation are you trying to leave her to cry?

[Piglet]

I am also not against letting a baby cry for a minute or two if you have to go to the bathroom, or if the baby is inconsolable (mine was colicky) - you sometimes can not respond with lightning speed. I will say one thing though - stop reading books and start reading the baby :) I have read a bunch of books and found that while each one had a tidbit of useful information, not one of them was my "bible", so to speak. I gathered as much as I could from each one but could never say that "the book says X, so I will do X from now on..." Do what feels right to you and your baby.

[KGoes]

I always picked up DD when I could get to her - there were times that I could not do it right away; in the shower, stuck in traffic, etc. and letting her cry never seemed to help anything and just made me upset.
Clearly your instincts are telling you to pick her up, and I think that is what you should do.
JMO
Kelley
DD born 7/03

[kristine_elen]

I would respond to cries immediately. The exception being if you're just putting her down for sleep and she cries in protest, I'd give her maybe a minute to see if she settles down before picking her up again. In any case, I wouldn't let her cry for more than about one minute.