Although some superhero babies sleep 10-12 hours straight starting around 3-4 months of age, most infants wake up during the night and cry out for their parents. There are scientific reasons and some developmental and behavioral explanations for these awakenings.

It's not often that we parents get told to do what we want to do. Usually we're told to do something because it's better for our child -- and whether we have the ability to do that thing, let alone the time or energy, doesn't enter into it. So enjoy this wonderful bit of parenting slack.

I lied not to protect myself, but because these were not my truths to tell. In all of these cases and so many more (I can't tell you about the more, for the same reason I didn't admit to these in real time) it was their privacy I was guarding, their secrets I was keeping.