this is an interesting article. one point it raises reminds me of some training i've done that makes an important distinction between comforting and ignoring feelings. i think it's ok (good?) to comfort a crying baby. there's that other side though where a bub might be hurt or for whatever reason be upset and the parent picks up the child with a big smile and the 'you're ok, get on with it' attitude that doesn't acknowledge the child's feelings.

i think bubs and kids need help from an adult to 'work through' strong emotions like separation/pain/anger/fear and for me, this means being held (or at least some kind of physical contact). i also think it's our role as parents to help kids express their emotions and stresses by teaching them the language of these feelings and showing in our body language/facial expressions/verbal tone that we empathise with them.

i guess it all depends on our definitions of comfort too. some might say that holding a crying child is comfort.

just my two cents