Accidental Parenting or Just Being a Mom?

This whole getting up with a 4 1/2 month old is blowing my mind. Landon slept through the night at 13 weeks, so I just thought all babies would. Well, Kaylee doesn't yet. I feel like I am handling it pretty well being that I have only slept through the night 3 times in that last 6 months. (I didn't sleep before she was born either. Thanks to my mom who kept her 1 night when she was born and 2 nights while we were in Chattanooga.) I guess your body, especially a woman's body, gets used to what is going on.

Kaylee takes 2 naps a day and usually goes down around 6:00 or 6:30pm. She goes down all 3 times without a fuss, which is WONDERFUL! (There for awhile she was screaming, but figured out it was her reflux flarring up.) Then she gets up between 10 and 11pm, which is 5 hours from her last feeding. She takes a bottle, I just upped it an ounce, and goes back to bed. I don't mind this feeding because I am either still up, getting ready for bed, or just getting to sleep. She will then wake up 5 hours later. Now I know she isn't really hungry because when I do give her a paci she goes right back to sleep. The Dr. says let her cry it out, but then I am AWAKE listening to her cry when I can just walk in quietly, give her a paci, and we are both back to dream land. I have read books that this is called accidental parenting. That I am not teaching her to self soothe. Hmmmm...I don't know how I feel about that. She tried the other night to get the paci in her own mouth, but missed. So, I am hoping that when she can finally accomplish the task of getting her own paci she won't need me anymore. If not I might be getting up with her forever!

I know, for a fact, that I did accidental parenting with Landon when I used to rock him to sleep every night. That was exhausting and so hard to break, so I feel that I have accomplished something by getting her to lay down happy and awake and be able to go to sleep on her own.

I have learned every child is different and I know there will be a time when I will be DRAGGING her out of bed instead of sticking a paci in her mouth to get her to go back to bed. I cherish the time and know "this too shall pass!"