Is the Estivill method dangerous? How does this system for making babies sleep?
In 1996 (in Italy it will come out three years later) Dr. Eduard Estivill Sancho, pediatrician from Barcelona, publishes the book "Fate la nanna" in which he describes an almost infallible method (valid, he says, in 96% of cases) to make sleeping children who just don't want to know about falling asleep or who wake up often during the night. The Estivill method, which in turn refers to the system developed years earlier by the pediatrician Richard Ferber of Boston and published in the book "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems", suggests, in a nutshell, to put the child to bed while still awake and say educating him to fall asleep alone. The book is very successful (over three million copies sold worldwide), also because the system seems to work and many new parents tried by whole sleepless nights can finally breathe a sigh of relief. What price? In the following years, in fact, various associations of pediatricians shake the first certainties about the Estivill method, denouncing its "violence" and stressing that no scientific study has ever demonstrated its efficacy and safety. In 2012, Dr. Estivill himself partially retracted his controversial method of making babies fall asleep. But many continue to follow ...
Estivil method: how it works and why it was successful
How does the Estivill method work? The system devised by the Spanish doctor and illustrated in the bestseller "Do la nanna" is based on the "gradual extinction of crying. In practice, the technique is divided into three distinct phases:
- as an initial step Estivill recommends introducing a routine to be repeated every night before falling asleep (for example a warm bath, a small game or reading a fairy tale, to create a positive environment for him), then placing the baby in the cot and getting out of the bed. his room (obviously the method assumes that the child has his own room, no co-sleeping with mum and dad);
- if, as is easily predictable, sooner or later the child starts crying, one should not intervene immediately but let predetermined periods of time pass before running to him, gradually increasing them (initially 3 minutes, then 5, 10, 15, etc. );
- when you enter the baby's room, you have to comfort him without picking him up, until he falls asleep again. According to Estivill, this method produces excellent results against the nocturnal awakenings of children, even the smallest ones, in just one week.
Does the Estivill "Go to sleep" method really work? Yes, the method all in all works, we don't know if it really works in 96% of cases and in just 7 days, as the Barcelona pediatrician promises, but it works. After all, it is natural: if the baby cries in his sleep but receives no response, after a certain period of time he stops crying and goes back to sleep alone. You just need to have the strength and patience to resist his cry, which in many cases can become downright desperate. Provided, however, that we know that crying is not a simple whim, but the only way that a tiny little creature (in Estivill's book the method is considered effective as early as 3 months ...) has to attract the attention of parents. . And that he stops crying alone not because he has regained his serenity, but because of exhaustion.
See also
Is the Estivil method dangerous? The alarm cry of numerous associations of pediatricians
"We now know from scientific research, if common sense were not enough, [...] that the claim that a small child falls asleep alone and sleeps through the night without requiring the presence and contact of the adult, as well as being anti-physiological and unrealistic, it can cause confusion in parents and great stress in children ". This is what the Cultural Association of Pediatricians thinks of the technique devised by the Spanish pediatrician. So is the Estivill method dangerous? According to its (many) detractors, this technique lacks any scientific evidence, because it is not supported by studies that have seen its actual application. Furthermore, it does not take into account that every child is unique and different from birth, so we cannot think that there is a "method" to teach how to fall asleep, or to overcome any nocturnal awakenings of the newborn, which is valid for everyone.
But, above all, a system that decisively represses the baby's crying, does not take into account, as already mentioned above, that with crying the baby expresses a need (which can be hunger, thirst, a malaise). , etc.) or a state of mind or a simple request for reassurance. By not responding to his cry, the parents induce the child not to seek comfort when he is in a situation of discomfort ("no use crying, so much mother does not come"), leading him to lose faith in the people who are closest to him. From a psychological point of view it is essential that mum and dad are able to give him security, reassuring him and taking care of him even at night (and patience for a few sleepless nights too many, love for your baby compensates for everything).
Estivill method, since when? The "right" age to start after the correction of the Spanish pediatrician
In the book "Fate la nanna" of '96, about the age at which to initiate the child to the Estivill method, the pediatrician recommended starting very early with the techniques against the nocturnal awakenings of children (as mentioned, even from 3 months) given that "there is no difference between a newborn and a 4-year-old child." A very questionable claim that attracted the most ferocious criticism of him and that the same doctor partially rectified many years later, exactly in 2012, specifying that the rules of his method were valid only for children from the age of 3 who suffered from the so-called infantile insomnia due to incorrect habits: "Infants regulate their biological clock (which, however, is still immature at that age) on the basis of breastfeeding and for this reason it is absolutely inappropriate to force the rhythms of sleep and wakefulness. Better to start from 3 years ".
