I just need some reassurance... I rock my 9 month old son to sleep every night. Lately I've been falling asleep with him. I'll usually wake up and put him in his crib after about half an hour or an hour. I swear he sleeps better (I hear him wake up less often) on nights I do this. He's always been a great nighttime sleeper but I've always tried to parent him to sleep. I've never co-slept and I don't breastfeed.

I keep reading things that say that this is the time you want them to learn to put themself to sleep, and this is the time to start putting them in their crib not fully asleep. I understand you need to let them learn to self-soothe, but he always self-soothes in the middle of the night and he very rarely wakes up to where he needs me to help him get back to sleep.

I just need some reassurance that it is okay to keep doing this for him. I really feel like rocking him every night is what he needs and the extra cuddles he gets at this time is good for him. What are your thoughts?