@riseup Yeah I am very tired of being looked at like a crazy person because I still rock my 21 month old to sleep. I am blessed in that she will sleep well in her bed alone (except when she’s sick of course, then she usually wants to sleep with me which is totally fine), but I get up usually about 2 times a night, hold her for a few minutes until she falls back asleep and then put her back in bed. I’m fine with her needing my presence to fall asleep, she’s little and I don’t mind doing it.
I recently had dinner with some friends from high school and their parents. We were all pretty tight knit, one mom in particular was like best friends with my mom so I saw her A LOT and I guess I would consider her like a mentor. But when I talked about how I held my daughter to sleep she acted like I was somehow damaging her? And wouldn’t stop going on about how “an almost 2 year old SHOULD be able to go to sleep on their own” and how the most I should be doing is patting her back a few times. Like I can’t conceive why it was such a terrible thing for me to do in her mind?? Who am I hurting? My child gets to fall asleep knowing she is loved, I am there for her, and I will be there right away if she just says she needs me. I get to hold her close, smell her little head, and enjoy all the endorphins I get from that throughout the night. What on earth is the problem with that? I don’t get it. I really feel like it must be projection, like people feel guilty for ignoring their babies crying so they have to tell themselves they’re doing the “right thing” to the point that anybody else doing it differently must be doing it wrong and “messing up” their child in some way.
Honestly I don’t judge parents who sleep train. Do you, do your family. Whatever makes it work for you. So it boggles my mind that people find it SO necessary to judge me for not sleep training. I just don’t get ot
