Cry it out? Selected neglect or ignorance?

I do not whatsoever agree with the cry it out method for any baby under 6 months old and not sure I agree with it under 1 year.

I understand a mom taking a few minutes to collect herself during a difficult period, but a newborn should never, ever be subjected to this "method."

To me, especially with a baby under 6 months, this is either ignorance (ie...new mom doing what her mom advises), or selected neglect.

I saw a post today where a new mom is letting her 6-day old son "cry it out." It broke my heart. She described it as, "the worst 4 minutes of [her] life so far." The thought that it would be allowed to continue beyond 4 minutes blows my mind, but the thought that it is the worst 4 minutes of his very short life really makes me sad.

He was just inside her body 6 days ago and now he is left to scream his little head off in this cold, bright, noisy world, without the one person he needs to be able to rely on. :(

Heart-wrenching.

I know I am the opposite extreme. I do put my daughter down, but she is in my arms 95% of the time. The other time, she is asleep or sitting I'm her seat while I shower. She doesn't cry much, unless she is hungry or dirty. When she does cry, it isn't a crazy cry, more a cry of expectation. She knows I'll be there in a hurry. I want her to know this and to trust me fully.

I did this with my boys too, back when people still really believed all the cry it out bullshit. I was 20 and paving my own path as a mother, despite the criticism..."you are going to spoil him!" Yeah, right.

You cannot spoil a newborn.
Repeat that as a mantra, world!!
It is not possible.

My boys are very well-rounded young men now, who will still voluntarily hug me. They are polite, kind, compassionate, and considerate. I like to think my child-rearing methods from day one had something to do with that.

Cry it out...to me translates to, "I'm sick of dealing with this, so I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to let my helpless baby wear himself out crying and screaming, until he passes out from exhaustion."

*big sad face*