**Disclaimer** This will probably come across as one sided because it is only one person's opinion. And she told me this while we were talking about naps, just to put it into context.

Yesterday was my LO's well visit at the pediatrician. Everything went well, and toward the end of the visit I brought up my little one's terrible napping skills. I was expecting our ped to tell me that a 30 minute nap is absolutely unacceptable (because that is what the books say) and that I needed to nap train/CIO asap. Well, to my surprise, she said this: "Well, you can't force a baby to sleep. If she seems happy, don't worry about!"

Wow! She went on to say that in her opinion, there are too many baby sleep books out there (oftentimes written by people who aren't even doctors) that moms reach out to thinking they will solve their problems. When in reality, every book offers a different solution and makes you think your baby needs fixing. She said, "back in my day, if your baby was a bad sleeper or a bad napper, it was chalked up to the fact that he was simply a baby. Not that he needed training." She said that moms (usually first time moms) are desperate for these books, which is why so many people write them. They sell!

I have read MANY baby sleep books and all have pretty much led me to believe that my baby has bad sleep problems that need to be fixed immediately. It was so relieving to hear my doctor say that it is indeed okay that my LO is a terrible napper (as long as she doesn't seem unhealthy or unhappy). She said that as she gets older she will naturally shift and put herself on a two nap, and then one nap schedule and they will get longer on their own.

She also said that she doesn't believe babies need to go to sleep super early (it is different when they are older and have been at pre school or daycare all day). But when they're babies, she said, "if your baby goes to bed at 10, so what? Don't fix something that isn't broken! I have many moms coming to me saying that their babies scream for hours before they are going to bed, but then they tell me they are trying to put them down at 6 pm because a book told them to."

Anyways, I just thought I would share this different perspective with you guys. What do you think? Are we too reliant on books and the internet when it comes to parenting our kids? Would things be easier if we didn't have all these books?

I know for me this conversation made me feel that maybe baby sleep isn't as hard as I am making it out to be. It also cemented our decision not to use CIO for our family. Lately I have been trying to have a more laid back approach to sleep, and now I don't feel like I am crazy.

ETA: her opinion of CIO for infants is this: "you can't force a baby to sleep, you can only teach them that you're not coming for them when they cry, and eventually they will sleep."