Q: My wife and I are having disagreements regarding our one-year-old son. He sleeps in our room and every time he stirs or wakes up, my wife picks him up to feed him, usually to nurse him.

Now, she doesn't even wait until he cries; she'll pick him up when he wakes up. My son will not go to sleep unless he is rocked or held. Do you have any suggestions?

A: I'm with you. It certainly isn't a good idea to wake a sleeping baby during the night and by the time a baby is a year old, he doesn't need a night feeding. Not only that, year-old babies shouldn't need to be rocked or held to fall asleep unless they're not feeling well, and then, of course, they may require some special comforting.

The pattern is probably pretty easy to change at this age. A good book for helping you teach your baby to sleep is Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. I also suggest my book, Raising Preschoolers as a guide, but almost any baby book will tell your wife she's doing this more for her own comfort than her baby's needs. I'm sure she's a very loving mother, but it could be the start of her becoming overprotective. I'd suggest she see a child psychologist for a few sessions to help her with her parenting.

Dr. Sylvia Rimm, Phd

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