How many mammals sleep away from their young? It seems very sad to me to stick a little one that only wants to be comforted by their protectors in another room and let them cry themselves to sleep. We also have a 15 year-old that also slept in our bed when he was younger and needed to be comforted after a nightmare or for whatever reason. He is very well adjusted, outgoing, amazing kid. I can’t imagine doing it any other way. I think every situation is different and everyone has their own way of doing things, but sometimes you just have to do what feels right. In this fast-paced, crazy world sometimes it’s the little things that create lasting memories and wonderful kids.

@Sabine Thank you for sharing what worked for you! Congrats! 🙂

@Emma Thank you for commenting and for sharing your experience at the boarding school. I definitely can empathize with children missing their parents at bedtime. My boys LOVE for me to cuddle and on the rare occasion we go out to dinner and they have a sitter, they often ask for me at bedtime. They love to cuddle. I’m sure it’s easier for them because they know they will see me the next day. I agree that night time can be a lonely place, but a baby who wakes every 1-2 hours all night and sees their mom all day during the day, for example, is most likely waking out of the result of a sleep association rather than loneliness. I don’t really like the word “training” in that it’s really teaching, just like we teach them manners at the table, to ride their bike, and so on, but I do think teaching babies to sleep better is usually a good idea, if they are waking frequently and it is difficult to sustain. It sounds like things are manageable for you and your 9 month old, so that’s great! I’m sure other parents would find it hard to get up more than twice a night month after month, though. It doesn’t mean he’s lonely. It could just mean he has developed a habit of “needing” to nurse every time back to sleep. Only you can decide whether it’s worth it to “teach” him something else, but I don’t think it’s wrong to want to teach him, as long as he isn’t lonely. Given I’m sure you give him lots of affection and attention during the day, I can imagine he isn’t. Those girls at the boarding school I’m guessing weren’t able to see their parents very much and that sounds entirely different to me. Just my opinion. Thanks again for sharing!

I went to boarding school when I was ten/eleven and wasn’t particularly homesick but a lot of the girls were. I spent a lot of hours up comforting the little ones. Some of them cried for hours, some of them just liked the attention but if they did I made it into a game and once they were smiling it was easy to say ‘there! all better now time for sleep.’ I don’t remember that the girls who were awake or upset at night were naughty or attention-seeking during the day. I think maybe they were the more sociable girls. Night is a lonely time if you like being with people. It’s easy to forget once you have a partner to curl up to.

Now I have my own nine-month old these memories came back to me. He still wakes a couple of times in the night briefly to nurse (more if teething or ill). I don’t feel I’m ‘giving in’ or creating bad habits any more than I did when I helped the other kids at school. I am just there for him in his struggles and one day when he doesn’t need me I hope he’ll do the same for someone else.

@Rima So true! And, yes, you are right. We all learn from our mistakes and I often explain to my son that everyone makes mistakes, even mommy and daddy. He doesn’t seem to think we do. 🙂 I would say he is a little bit of a perfectionist at times. I wonder where he gets that… 🙂

@Varda Oh didn’t you hear? I redefined “sleep training” to include “no-cry” methods. 🙂 Here is the article: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/attachment-parenting-sleep-training/

@Isabelle That is a good point. I do find my “moderate” approach to sleep has also been a common theme in much of my parenting. Thank YOU for reflecting. 🙂

@Natalie Very true. Another good point. I would agree that if you give in to a lot related to sleep to a toddler, I’m sure that means you have a persistent child and given my experience in how difficult it can be to parent a persistent child, I can imagine it could/would bleed into other things. I definitely see it different to “give in” to a 3 year old versus a 6 month old, though. Their level of understanding is just so different that I can’t imagine even a 6-month old baby who is “given in to” with EVERYTHING will necessarily be spoiled provided that parent begins to set limits as he gets older. But, you make a good point on more of the personality of the parent in the first place. Interesting! Thanks for commenting!

It seems to me that sleep is the first real test of our parenting skills. It gives us as parents the opportunity to stick to our guns, regardless of the protesting, because we know deep down what is best for our children. Of course, we will do that many, many times over the course of our children’s lives. Sleep is only the first of many instances.

Nicole, thanks for your insightful articles!

2 more things:
1. don’t be so foolish to think that you ever have control over your child. He/she always has the option of disobeying you. It’s your job to make him/her want to obey you. How you do that will depend on how you want him/her to feel about you and him/herself in general.
2. For Nicole: My definition of a perfect parent includes making mistakes b/c absolute perfection would be too hard an act for my son to follow and he’d end up always feeling bad about himself. Let him learn how to cope with being imperfect by my (sometimes many) examples!! =)