Can crying too much hurt my child.?

Question

My son is 11 months old and i just took him off formula. I give him a snack before bed and a sippy cup to go to sleep with. the problem is that he wakes up in the middle of the night still hungry. I've heard that i should just let him cry and he will learn to go back to sleep himself. He cries so hard and for so long that I'm afraid he can hurt himself. Can he? Also does anyone know what i can do to make him sleep through the night again not returning him back to formula?

Answer 1

No it can't hurt them..if it did, doctors wouldn't recommend crying it out. Your son will be totally fine crying himself to sleep for a couple of nights. He'll cry less and less each night and eventually won't cry at all. It's a very bad habit to get into if you rock him and hold him until he falls asleep. Infants and toddlers need to know how to put themselves to sleep and letting them cry it out is a perfectly great way to teach them that.

Answer 2

Crying raises stress hormones and yes it will hurt him. No it will not kill him but it raises his response to stress hormones and makes him more likely to be stressed his whole life. It also teaches him that he can't always count on you to help him if he needs help.

He may or may not be hungry, but in any case if he wakes up crying he needs you. If you leave him to cry he will learn that you don't care about him enough to come when he nees you, so he'll give up and just go to sleep. In your case you have been told that is the right thing to do. It is not. If he cries, he needs you. Snuggle him and help him feel safe.

I hope his sippy cup has water in it. Otherwise it could hurt his teeth.

It could be emotionally that he needs you in the night, especially since going off formula is a transition in his life. Just be there for him and reassure him when he wakes up. He'll outgrow it. If he really is hungry you should make sure that his bedtime snack has fat and protein in it (cheese and crackers, cereal with whole milk, something like that and not just fruit or bread) He will sleep through the night when he is ready, but it might not be for another year or more. The night is long and kids just need to be reassured that we are there for them.

Answer 3

He really should not be off formula for another month (a month in a babies life is along time) also if he is waking hungrey...feed him & put him back on the formula he is not getting enough from just the milk then. Also if he is cring very hard & you are not comforting him he is going to hav some security issues,give him a sippy w/ formula & if he wakes up hungrey.. give him another he may be going trough a grwoth spurt. And then comfort him back to sleep, sit with him read to him hold him, whatever helps

Answer 4

Firstly, he is a bit young to be taken off formula. Generally they say 1 year, but truly most breastfed babies around the world eat breast milk until 2-4 years of age. At 12 months solid food should only be about 25% of your child's caloric intake.

Secondly how would you feel if you woke up hungry? And couldn't eat and nobody cared???

Thirdly think of how you feel after crying, your throat is sore, your nose is stuffy your eyes hurt. Not conducive to sleep and at the very least it makes you feel bad if it isn't bad for you.

You can try giving him some foods from this article "Food for sleep"[2] but honestly I do not understand why you have taken him off formula (you can give it in the sippy cup if you do not want him having bottles)

[1] http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html#frequency
[2] http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T042400.asp

Answer 5

Hello! As an experienced mother of 3, and one on the way, I can honestly say no baby has ever died from crying. You will never see it in the newspaper about a baby or toddler crying himself to death. It's good for their lungs. I'm not saying just let him cry all the time, but just saying it's ok once in a while to just let him cry himself to sleep. He will get the hint after a few night, mommy is not coming in to get him, or give him something to eat or drink in the middle of the night. All my children slept through the night after a couple night of crying themselves to sleep.

Answer 6

It can't hurt your child, but it will hurt you forever. I couldn't bear that I let my child cry at night when they woke up; my husband even less. I tried doing that, but gave it up because it's just too unnerving. Then, I did something that worked for both of my kids. When they woke up at night, I went to their bed and whispered that I'm here, go to sleep and tapped them on the back while they lay in bed until they fell asleep again. It will take time for them to go through the night without waking up, but eventually, they will.

Answer 7

"the problem is that he wakes up in the middle of the night still hungry."

If he's still hungry then you should feed him!!!!!

How would you feel if you were hungry and no one would give you food?

If he's truely hungry then it is CRUEL to ignore him!

Personally, I don't advocate CIO. BUT even the experts who do will tell you that CIO is meant for AFTER you make sure the child doesn't truely need something other than you. If he's hungry, FEED HIM.

Answer 8

No it will not hurt him to cry it builds up his lungs. He should not be off formula yet they say 12 months is when to start giving them milk. He might be hungry b/c he is not getting what he needs form the milk. They need there formula.

Answer 9

I think he's a little young to be off of formula, but crying too much certainly won't hurt him.

Answer 10

The only thing that i can suggest to you right now is.....let him cries that what babies does eventually, he will get tied of crying and then stop......and if you start him back on the formula that means he will be spoiled......so let him cries, and don't pick him up every time he cries.....he will be extremely spoiled.......I know you need your rest at night.....but if you attend to make him quit by give him back his formula and pick him up alot......then it will be more harder on you.
Best wishes and good luck