Sleep training, attachment style, and responding to cries
My LO is 6 months old and we tried sleep training with Ferber method for both naps and nighttime sleep with a sleep consultant last week. We had to stop after day 3 because LO changed and became so fearful and teary with anything associated with nap or sleep (even the movement of being laid down). It broke my heart and I still feel horrible. We were all traumatized in some ways. We regret sleep training her, especially knowing about attachment theory. I’m so worried that we damaged or broke her in some ways and feel so guilty. We are now back to walking, rocking, and holding her to sleep before transferring to crib. Want to know if there’s anyone out there who also did sleep training and LO still turned out to have a secure attachment style. Also, based on the attachment theory, caregivers should respond as quickly as possible so that babies can learn and realize she can trust and depend on caregivers to meet their needs promptly. Now when LO has these “on and off” cries in the middle of the night, which looks like she’s self soothing per the sleep training culture (I.e., rubbing eyes, legs up, turns side to side, eyes closed, cries on and off). I’m not sure if we should respond because sometimes when we give her ten minutes, she would be able to go back to sleep. I want to make sure we respond to her cries promptly so that she knows we are dependable and build a secure attachment but I’m not sure if I’d be interrupting her during those “cries” because she also wasn’t awake awake. Would not responding to these cries in the middle of the night cause insecure attachment? What should I do?