For my family the crunch time came one evening when Otis was around eight months old. He woke every 30 minutes in the first few hours of the night and then every two hours.

The next day he was as crotchety and miserable as his father and I, so we made the decision to do sleep training and we let him cry. If he screamed we comforted him and then left.

Within two days he was sleeping through for between 10 and 12 hours every night. He still woke at 5.30am every morning, but that uninterrupted sleep was crucial for the whole family's wellbeing.

With a full night's sleep he was a wholly more cheerful child. Now as the mother of a two-year-old I am so glad we made that decision.

We've been living between my parents and my parents-in-law while we get the house done up and got to the bizarre situation, because we wanted to comfort him in the change, where Otis would only sleep if someone was sat on a chair beside him. Including at 1am in the morning.

My husband tried to comfort him and Otis lay there watching him to make sure he stayed there all night.

When he decided to lie down on the floor next to him to get some rest Otis shouted "Sit on the chair".

The next night we did what we usually do - put him to bed and when he cried we laid him down and told him "You have to go to sleep now". And he did. It's an always changing situation, but as parents we take charge. The fact is our son is very well rested and happy, and so are we.

I met an acquaintance the other day with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. She's a keen advocate of "attachment" parenting where you respond to your child's every whimper.

I looked at her. She was absolutely shattered and cross. As her daughter whined she snapped "Maybe if you slept more during the night you wouldn't be so whingy".

I see sleep like this. You know too much sugar is bad for your child so you don't give them all the sweets they want, which often makes them cry. You know sleep is good for your child so you make them have it, which sometimes makes them cry.

To me it's about making the decision, as a parent, about what is best for your child.

Of course if Otis is ill or if he doesn't settle we go in and see to him, but the majority of the time he goes to sleep very happily in his own bed.

It is funny when other women sidle up to you and ask "So when did he start sleeping through?" and I confess in a guilty voice "Well, actually we had to do sleep training at eight months". More often than not they'll nod their head and say "Oh yes, we did at and it made our lives so much better".

Attachment parenting is all well and good in theory, but in practice its often just not best for the child.

Children thrive on routine, it makes them feel safe. They need boundaries because they make them feel comfortable.

If they push and you keep on changing them it's bound to be unsettled.

This is a matter people feel incredibly strongly about. I'm a member of one internet parenting website where if you post anything at all positive about sleep training they decry you as an uncaring, cold, heartless parent.

For some people attachment parenting (what an inaccurate term that is - all parenting is attachment) is part of a parcel along with breastfeeding and cloth nappies. It's a way of being.

Which is all fine and good for them, but it doesn't make them any better than anyone else.

I am glad I did sleep training as it has meant my whole family is happier and (after this article) I'm going to stop justifying it.

I have done what's best for my son and family and I am proud of that.