^ I'm with you on that one, different situations for different mums and bubs - I don't like articles that word things in a way that could be misconstrued as suggesting that *everybody* MUST do it this way, instead of allowing for individual people and circumstances.

I did read an article very shortly after DD was born that really confirmed (in my mind, anyway) that my methods were working and that I was doing the right thing for my individual situation (I didn't do a 'proper' controlled crying thing, just went by instinct, if DD's cries were just whingy ones I left her for a bit, if she was actually crying of course I would pick her up straight away). I can't find the link to it now, but the gist of it was that babies are just the same as us in that they get stressed, overtired and need a vent after a long, hard day - and that constantly 'shushing' them when they cry can be detrimental because they need to learn right from birth how to express their negative emotions in a healthy way, instead of bottling everything up - we all know as adults how important it is to have a cry when we're down, how important 'alone time' or a big *****ing session to our best mate or a chocolate binge after a hard day at work is... and babies need the same thing, but obviously they can only cry to vent their frustrations.
So, I would often allow DD to just lay next to me and have a bit of a sook if we'd had a busy day, when feeds, cuddles and other things weren't working I assumed she was just letting it all out and she would often get her tears out of the way and either fall asleep or be back to her smiling self very soon. Not that I left her alone in a room bawling for hours or anything, I was always with her, but I didn't try to comfort her other than putting an arm around her and letting her know that mummy was there for her, kwim??


But again, reporters need to be very careful about how they word their arguments and research for fear of someone who isn't as confident a parent as others taking it to heart and doing more harm than good.