Please reassure me this is ok/tell me if MIL is right...?

[Cluelessfirstimer]

This is so trivial I swear but my poisonous MIL has made me paranoid again...

Baby is 4.5 months old. I've just started :pat pat shh shh" for naps because he was getting hysterical and needed to literally be walked around the house for an hour then napped on me. I didnt mind contact naps but it was the walking miles in the same rooms that was driving me mad. He Hayes the sling and I couldn't leave the house to use the buggy today

MIL said that's sleep training and it's cruel because he is too young...Is it?!?! He wasn't screaming, just light cries/whimpers. If he was really upset I would have gotten him out of the travel cot. It took me about 30 minutes to get him to sleep but he napped in the travel cot for a good hour and woke up happy.... ish..

Is he too young for that....???

It’s not even sleep training. It’s just soothing the baby without picking them up. You know your baby’s cries. There’s a massive difference between screaming in distress or for needs, and a tired baby whimpering because they’re struggling to settle. I used to stroke my up and down my baby’s nose and eyebrows when he was like this, it worked a treat. Was I mistreating him just because I didn’t pick him up?

I did this with my babies from birth and I believe it's the reason why they were good sleepers from the start. They were always able to be put down sleepy but awake. They knew I was right there with them. It helped them to settle and sleep without being in my arms.

Sleep training is really good for this age as they’re no longer newborns. My second child was like this, really hard to get down for naps. Hated the sling and never slept in buggy or car seat. You got this

You did a great thing for your baby. You invested time and effort into teaching him to sleep easier. Your MIL is wrong - does she want you to be miserable and the baby to be tired?