"I've been rocking and cuddling my baby to sleep since the day he was born. I mentioned this to a nurse at my clinic recently. She said that she did the same thing with her son, and everyone warned her that she would still have a teenager sleeping in her bed.
And then she told me that, a few weeks ago, her teenage son came home from school very upset. He did not want to talk, and just went to his room and listened to his music, typed on his phone and cried.
The mother gave her son space, and night time came and she went to her bed. Just as she was about ti turn off the side light, the door opened, and her 15 year old padded into the room. He climbed into the bed with her, laid his head on her shoulder and cried.
He told her all about his broken heart, the friends who laughed, and all about the stresses of being him. She told him about her first broken heart, friends who had been cruel to her, and told him she understands. They talked in the dark for hours, until he fell asleep in her bed. Still sad but relieved after their talk.
'So you see', she said to me, when she finished the story. 'I was so scared that I would wind up with a teenager who would 'need me' at night, that I never stopped to consider how beautiful that would really be' “
L.R. Knost - Little Hearts, Gentle Parenting Resources.
Cuddling with my babies to sleep, is one of my favorite parts of the day. Choose the way you want to put your kids to sleep, whatever your gut tells you. You don’t need to feel pressure to do things any other way because of what others may say. You do you, whatever that may be.