Seeing your sweetie’s face scrunch up and hearing her moan when she doesn’t get what she wants can be hard, we know. But you can expect this reaction more than once when implementing your sleep strategy.
However, the key to your child’s sleep, and to every other aspect of his life, is to remember that ants are not necessities. As a parent, you make sure your child has everything he needs, but that doesn’t mean you give him everything he wants.
During the first few months of your baby’s life, you can easily distinguish her wants from her needs, because she needs you for everything! However, somewhere around that 4-6 month mark, she doesn’t need you as much as you think.
With each passing month, your little one can do more, understand more, and be more independent. However, she’s also charged with being with you, her 24-hour watch buddy, and she’s not going to give up that arrangement easily.
Like a kid in a candy store, your baby has trouble knowing the difference between what he wants from you and what he needs from you. And as a loving, caring, very tired parent, you don’t always notice the difference either. But if he can make this distinction between wants and needs and do it from the beginning, his life and the life of his child can be happier.
Of course, the wants and needs of older children are easier to address than those of infants and toddlers. (In fact, we describe different sleep strategies for children at different ages and stages because what works for an 8-month-old may be very different from what works for a 3-year-old.) But making the distinction is key to your sleep strategy. To help you tell the difference, here’s a quick rundown of your little one’s needs versus wants.
