L.; hahahah funny the exact same thing happened to me and my second child, the first child was pat his back, the second wanted and needed his hand held cause i did that when he nursed, he would wake up in the middle of the night and come in our room, but i had put a mattreess under my bed, and had it all made up for sleeping, when the little ones came into our room we pulled out that mattress and it was much easier to hold his hand while i too could lay down on my bed, it eventually went away, and i cherished those times he relied on me to hold his little hand, actually i dont think you can break it its just a time thingy , and dissappears as time goes by, i dont really like the cry me to sleep method, ive done it when they were a bit older when i knew they were ok, but those little ones dont knwo how to communicate yet, and they cant say im uncomfortable and peed ? or whatever, their way of communication is to cry , or to make a noise, and it usually signals a need needs to be met, when children do not have their needs met, they do not turn out emotionally stable, its perfectly normal to also take care of their little needs, they do need attenton and affection and they do get scared and need us there to help then through this, a very young child cannot just comfort himself, to get back to sleep they need that hnad holding or to know you are just there, even us when we cant sleep we might wake up another adult and tell them we had a scary dream or get up and get a snack or a drink of water, or even to go to the bathroom, why do we expect our kids to be any different? either way continue to love your child and if that means they need their hand held, by all means hold their hand, one day they wont wanty ou to and you will find another means to take care of their issues, or needs, have a wonderful day and continue to be the mom you are!! D. s