Night Night

Hey Handsome,

We're in the middle of "sleep training" you now, bud...and it's hard. I mean, I feel bad, because it requires me to allow you to cry for a set period of time every night. You cry for 5 minutes, and then I go in and "comfort" you as best I can. Then I leave, and typically you start crying harder than before.

Your mom couldn't even really do it when we started -- she went in to comfort you, then came out almost in tears because it was so hard to watch you crying like that.

Anyhow, you might be upset now, but when you get older you'll understand, and when you have kids of your own you'll understand even more.

Because I was allowed to cry for extended periods of time, and I turned out just fine. I don't blame my parents now, and I never have. But the thing is, all of these "baby experts" out there are telling us that letting your child cry, even for a little bit, could hurt the child's brain.

It's scary. We've already given what will likely be a life-long scar on your forehead, but are we also damaging your brain? It all has something to do with something called "cortisol." According to doctors, non-stop crying causes a lot of cortisol. When there's too much cortisol in the body, it's a bad thing. So people assume that allowing a baby to cry creates a lot of cortisol, and that's a bad thing.

But I don't think it's that simple, because the important tests were done on rats...and humans are much more complicated than rats. That's why I'm okay with letting you cry.

I just hope it was the right choice.