[bheadmaster]

Thank you for the input, and for the link to the commentary. It certainly raises some interesting questions.

I'm glad there are people out there that still care more about the well-being of their children than their own convenience. "Crying it out" does feel like a lazy way out from my perspective. The fact that so many parents are willing to do it, and yet become defensive in discussions like this... "Oh, you've never been a parent, you don't know what it's like"... Well, nobody forced them to have children. I don't know what they expected when they decided to have a kid. It's a massive undertake, and requires almost complete dedication. Yet it's so easy to just have a change of heart, feel trapped, blame the child for being a child. I can empathize, but I can't approve. If you have a child, its well being is more important than yours.

[em-bee]

there is a lot of culture behind this. friends i visited left their baby in a room crying while they were entertaining guests as if it was the most normal thing in the world. they were otherwise very loving and caring towards their children, so to me this seemed rather out of place. but it looked like that was just how they did it and i guess everyone else from their culture too.

i also think that many parents are being led to believe that letting the kid cry it out is for the well-being of the child. so some will do it even if it goes against their own feelings.