Lots of parents who use dummy's feel a twinge of guilt the first time they stick a pacifier in their baby’s mouth. However, dealing with a screaming infant in the grocery line or on a long car trip will make most parents try just about anything they can think of to calm the child down! I found them so helpful in those early days - but when does it start to impact things?

So, perhaps that’s a bit of a misleading title.

I’m not suggesting that you can remove yourself from baby’s bedtime routine altogether. Even if you could somehow say to your child, “Alright. It’s almost bedtime. Go have a bath, brush your teeth, get into your PJs, read yourself a story and tuck yourself in. Mommy will be out here watching The Bachelor with a glass of wine if you need me.”

Even if we could pull that off, I don’t know a single mother that would actually enjoy removing themselves from the routine. (Well, maybe once a week.)

Truth be told, I love putting my kids to bed. Watching them play in the bath, getting them
dressed in their warm, fuzzy pyjamas, cuddling and reading stories, I wouldn’t trade that for all the wine and trash TV in the world.

But the issue that I see with most parents whose babies won’t sleep through the night takes place after their little one gets into bed.