“Don’t go up there just yet. You need to give her some time, otherwise she’ll always know she can cry and you’ll come running.”

My 2-year-old daughter was crying in the night again. She cried out every night. Some nights it was just a little wail, like she was dreaming or having some pain from a tooth bothering her or something. Other nights, it was full waterworks. And one thing was for sure: I’m not a fan of the whole “cry it out” thing.

Sure, there are times when it’s that simple wail where I’m not needed, and she just flips over and goes back to sleep. But it’s those other times (where it’s full-blown crisis mode to her) where I just want to run to her as fast as possible.

It breaks a mom’s heart to hear her babies cry, no matter how old they get. And to tell a mom to not run to her baby right away . . . well, that’s just not possible.

For a mother’s job is to comfort her baby. Her job is to protect them and so, if they’re scared in the middle of the night or not feeling well–Mommy is right there to fix it all.

The end.

No crying it out . . .

No give the kid some time to calm themselves down or “self-soothe” . . .

I’m the mom and that’s my job.

And I’ll always run to my babies when I’m called for.