# cbs news sleeptraining



## Summertime Mommy (Dec 5, 2003)

I don't know if anyone caught the CBS news "Eye on America" segment tonight. It was about sleeptraining. They basically said that parents should make the schedule, not babies, even if it means CIO. I was rather shocked they would even have a segment on this. Anyway, does anyone know where to right a letter of protest or anything?


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## sistermama (May 6, 2003)

I just jumped on this forum KNOWING someone would be posting! That segment really pissed me off, typically one-sided. Why do people expect their children to be so convenient? The part that really got me was when the mom said something along the lines of, "it just doesn't seem right to let him cry like that" and everyone just totally overran her feelings and she couldn't trust her own instincts. Also the part where the reporter said something about it being "common sense"!!!! to let your child CIO.


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## surf mama (Jan 8, 2005)

I don't know where to write to but CBS could sure use it. A couple months ago I caught a few minutes of their morning show where they were giving the same advice like it was the only option a parent could consider. I wish they would AT LEAST say it is just one option and give an unbiased story. Why oh why is our culture so backwards in how they treat our little ones. This definitely bugs me!!!







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## Still_Snarky (Dec 23, 2004)

: Yuck, shame on them.

If anyone wants to write a complaint go to http://www.cbs.com/ At the very bottom of the page there is a "Feedback" link which brings up a form. Complain away ladies.


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## boatbaby (Aug 30, 2004)

I just watched the video online
It made my stomach turn
Watching the baby writhe alone in his crib. Hearing him SOB!









My husband said "turn that OFF!"
Note: he was bottle fed and they used a crib.
Here is a link, clikc on the "Getting Baby To Sleep" link in the box on the left.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/home/main100.shtml


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## Still_Snarky (Dec 23, 2004)

I wrote my nasty feedback...anyone else with me?


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## beth568 (Jul 1, 2004)

That made me so mad I could spit!

Writing to CBS now.







:


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## sistermama (May 6, 2003)

Here's mine:

I was very disappointed in your segment, "Getting Baby to Sleep" on the Evening News tonight. There are many different options for helping an infant sleep besides the one cruel one that was presented. Through "sleep training" babies learn to distrust that their parents will repond to their needs - just what we need, jaded infants. I suggest that in the future you present more than one side to an issue. You could contact Dr. William Sears - I'm sure he would be glad to demonstrate some of the many gentle ways to help a baby sleep.


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## surf mama (Jan 8, 2005)

boatbaby-thanks for the link. I had missed seeing it on TV.

I clicked on contact us and sent a suggestion. I suggested that for once they should cover a story from an attachment parenting perspective. It sure would be nice to see them intelligently explain all the good, logical, scientific reasons for NOT crying it out!


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## babycarrier (Apr 2, 2004)

I AM OUTRAGED! What a horrible segment! I was watching in disbelief. That little boy was writhing in his crib with his face almost up to that puffy barrier/bumper thing! Off to write cbs. Just had to vent.

Oh my. i just went to the link on the story. They give detailed instructions on how to let this cio happen. You may not touch the baby. "you can do it" encouragement to the child. I believe it says the 3rd time is the last time you can go in. What do parents do if there babe cries for hours? I am feeling ill. How many parents will start this horrible practice tonight after seeing it advocated on national news.


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## bendmom (Sep 4, 2003)

The ironic thing is that the NBC morning show did a similar interview w/a doc from the AAP saying that they suggest bf and co-sleeping. Then Ann Curry jumped in and said she slept with all her children (3). Dh and I were just happy that SOMEONE admitted to co-sleeping on T.V.


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## sistermama (May 6, 2003)

Yay Ann!!!!! I hadn't heard that before.


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## mittendrin (Nov 5, 2003)

your segment on sleeptraining a baby makes me sick to my stomach. have you any idea how many parents, who watched this shortcut of how to neglect a child in the most convenient way are actually going to believe this load of crap? how many parents are going to let their child cry for hours and nights now? how is this parenting advise? how can you show a baby, a human being writhering alone in a dark room in his crib, puffy eyes, snotty nose and just wanting to be held and nurtured? and then tell america: guess who runs the show now?
i thought this country's favorite war was on terrorism, not on babies.
and by the way, congratulations: the whole picture fits perfect: the pottery barn-style room, the expensive stroller and, of course, the bottle.
maybe try to cover the same story again with a breastfed baby and parents who actually DO care about their child.
better luck next time!

if i could have sent that with a brown bag filled with dog poop, i would've done it. IDIOTS! how can that be allowed? i'm steamin'...


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## surf mama (Jan 8, 2005)

bendmom-when did NBC do their segment in favor of co-sleeping? I'd like to send them a positive comment....anything to encourage the little bit of coverage the media gives to attachment parenting!


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## annakiss (Apr 4, 2003)

What a horrible segment! I just wrote in. My first thoughts for the parents were of course to co-sleep, but also - why are they trying to put a baby who isn't tired to sleep? Seems like a way to waste three hours, if you ask me.


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## sistermama (May 6, 2003)

Very good point anna kiss. If it takes 3 hours to put a 5 month old to bed, than that baby wasn't ready for sleep when they started. Also, being on call doctors, they must both work crazy hours. So are they thinking they'll get home, have dinner and immediately put him to bed? He's probably been sleeping all day, so as to maximize mommy time at night. Plus a lot of the things they had been trying on their own seemed awfully stimulating to me.


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## Rainbow Brite (Nov 2, 2004)




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## mandalamama (Sep 1, 2004)

from the article/transcript: "it takes them an average of three hours to get him to sleep." well DUH, then they should be putting him to bed *three hours later* i really wish i could whack some people on the head. sigh. the entire story has me and my husband both spitting bricks right now.

if you write an email to CBS (or any media of any sort), put in the Subject line and in the first line of your email - "ATTN: Assignment Editor" - trust me, that will get you the most results (many years experience in journalism here).


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## mandalamama (Sep 1, 2004)

still pissed off after watching the video









the analogy i use when i'm trying to encourage mainstream parents to co-sleep is this: when you potty-train your baby, do you put them in the bathroom by themselves and expect them to learn how to go in the toilet? when you're teaching your baby to eat, do you give them a spoon and a bowl of food and leave the room? well, then how can you expect your baby to learn to sleep if they don't watch you sleep, watch you roll over and go back to sleep, watch you get up and go to the bathroom or drink water and go back to sleep?


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## Still_Snarky (Dec 23, 2004)

really great analogy meli, i might just have to steal that one!


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## RosieTook (Sep 4, 2004)

It takes me all of 10 minutes to get my 5 month old to sleep...why??? Cause I wait till she is ready to sleep, not when I am ready for her to sleep!! Of course she goes around the same time every night...and SHE set that schedule...









My heart was breaking for that little boy...imagine, his little spirit was broken and they have it all on tape.









Sick, sick sick.


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## veganbaby (Oct 28, 2004)

I saw this and it made me so mad! It takes a while for me to get DD to sleep. Well if I lay with her she will sleep, but if I get up she will usually wake up. So I don't get much done around the house. Its a good excuse to take a nap with her. I need to think what I want to say. I hope they get bombarded with emails telling them how stupid they are to advocate CIO.


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## nannymom (Jan 23, 2004)

I complained


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## miasmommy (Feb 4, 2005)

I emailed them my disgust.









Another reason to avoid the news!

MEL
Mom to my DD Mia who prefers to sleep with her Mommy & Daddy....


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## motocita (Oct 31, 2004)

i emailed them with my complaint as well.

how sickening! i can't believe how cruel people can be, to a helpless baby no less. absolutely disgusting.


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## Cheshire (Dec 14, 2004)

$500 for sleep training. What a RACKET!

Quote:

For years so-called experts have advised letting baby set the schedule for feeding and sleeping. A growing number of sleep experts are advising a routine set by the parents is better.
Personally, I think letting a newborn CIO is one of the most selfish acts a parent can do. The quote above says it all -- when the reporter said that I looked at my dh and said it's selfishness.

I know how hard having a baby that won't sleep through the night is. Especially as a working mom (and dad) raising an almost ten month old who still wakes at least twice a night to eat (a full bottle each time). And, he seems to have wakeful moments at least every couple of hours where he has to move around (a lot) and resettle, sometimes with our help and sometimes he can do it on his own.

We cosleep and that makes it much easier but it's still hard. I refuse to stop parenting my little guy at night just because I need some sleep. I know it will not last forever.

Anybody ever heard of the marshmallow emotional intelligence test? You put a kid in a room and put a marshmallow on a table and tell them that they can eat the marshmallow now but if they wait five minutes (or one or two depending on the age of the child) for the "instructor" to return they'll get two marshmallows. Supposedly this will give an idea of the emotional intelligence of the child if they can wait it out or not.

Well, whenever I see folks using CIO I think to myself, "they'd eat the marshmallow."









Just my $.02.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Cheshire*
Well, whenever I see folks using CIO I think to myself, "they'd eat the marshmallow."









:LOL Me too! :LOL


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## Belle (Feb 6, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *surf mama*
bendmom-when did NBC do their segment in favor of co-sleeping? I'd like to send them a positive comment....anything to encourage the little bit of coverage the media gives to attachment parenting!

Here's NBC's segment. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6927836/


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## surf mama (Jan 8, 2005)

Belle-thanks for the NBC link. It was nice to hear the dr talk about responding promptly to cues and encouraging co-sleeping!


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## ewp11100 (Oct 16, 2003)

"You must never pick up the baby."








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That article made me tear up it's just discusting


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## bamamom (Dec 9, 2004)

They also had a link at the bottom for the "sleep trainers" childsleep.com We could also go there and tell them what 's what. Can you imagine spending 500.00 so someone could come in your house and tell you to let your baby CIO????


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## mrmsmommy (Feb 18, 2005)

I dont understand why anyone could EVER let a child CIO, and than look at their poor faces all puffy all red, trying to catch breath. I dont understand!


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## sistermama (May 6, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mrmsmommy*
I dont understand why anyone could EVER let a child CIO, and than look at their poor faces all puffy all red, trying to catch breath. I dont understand!

Sheer desperation -







: I have tried it before and it was AWFUL and it didn't do anything except make my baby furious at me and make me feel terrible.


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## mrmsmommy (Feb 18, 2005)

I too have tried it, I am not going to deny that I have tried several things. But I have learned from it and know that its not the way its going to help any of us.

People who encourage CIO need to stop reading whats written in a book and go by instinct. So many people are so focused on doing it by the book, that they forget whats BEST for THEIR children.

If a book says "spank your kid" they do it, because the book says its right. BS!!!!!


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## gigismom (Nov 26, 2001)

I just wrote to cbs news also...(computer had been broken for a few days). When I saw this story I was so sad and angry. I share all of the views already expressed in this thread. My 5 year old dd was actually in the room when the story was on also. She was interested because she saw the baby. When she saw the baby crying in the crib she started to sob and cry. "Please, Mommy don't sleep train Selma (her baby sister)!" "Oh, Mommy they should just give that baby to us, he can sleep with you. You will help him sleep!!" Even my 5 year old has stronger mothering instincts than some mothers these days. Obviously, I assured her that we would never let Selma cry by herself. We then quickly shut the TV off, as it should have been in the first place!!!

jen


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## jenP (Aug 22, 2002)

I emailed CBS and made the thrust of my complaint not so much the fact that the method shown is horrible: it is horrible, but more to the point for a new show it IS NOT NEWS because it is not NEW. This crap has been around for decades and the segment didn't have anything that hasn't been written in dozens of books already and didn't offer so much as a new angle. So what on earth is the point of reporting it?
Oh, wait, I guess the new angle is that now they charge big bucks to tell you to stick the kid in the crib and let him cry.
I hope the baby appreciates the thousands and thousands of dollars they spent on decorating his room while he is lying crying in his crib all alone. "My parents MUST love me, look at all the things they bought me." Hmm, maybe with all that money they could just hire a night nurse to hold him and rock him at night if they don't want to.
My thought when they talked about their three hour routine in the evening was, if you have a five month old you spend all evening reading to and talking to and holding and feeding and playing with the baby ANYWAY, even if you aren't specifically trying to get him to go to sleep at that point. What did they THINK they would be doing with their evenings?
But hey, enough preaching to the choir here! I have to go write to CBS again because it just hit me that a "related article" link that was on the sidebar mentioned "Breastfeeding rates too low" while the "routine" spelled out by their baby trainers listed the bedtime routine as "bath, bottle, book, lay the baby down." No mention of breast at all!

Jen


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## EJP (Aug 8, 2004)

i just viewed the CBS clip and wrote in - I am getting so sick of this CIO business - and isn't that what it's become - a business!!!! People are actually profiting from this movement - who were the women from Childsleep and what are their qualifications anyway?!?!?!


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## mommyofshmoo (Oct 25, 2004)

I tred to figure out where to write. Who should I write to?


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## NYCVeg (Jan 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gigismom*
I just wrote to cbs news also...(computer had been broken for a few days). When I saw this story I was so sad and angry. I share all of the views already expressed in this thread. My 5 year old dd was actually in the room when the story was on also. She was interested because she saw the baby. When she saw the baby crying in the crib she started to sob and cry. "Please, Mommy don't sleep train Selma (her baby sister)!" "Oh, Mommy they should just give that baby to us, he can sleep with you. You will help him sleep!!" Even my 5 year old has stronger mothering instincts than some mothers these days. Obviously, I assured her that we would never let Selma cry by herself. We then quickly shut the TV off, as it should have been in the first place!!!

jen

Wow. You should send THAT to CBS.







to your dd!


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## sistermama (May 6, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EJP*
who were the women from Childsleep and what are their qualifications anyway?!?!?!


That's what I was thinking the whole time.

Get a load of this crap.... childsleep.com

They even claim not to believe in CIO, but say instead that love and support is offered the whole time - must have missed that part when I was watching it.


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