AITAH for getting my pillow from my toddler’s room even though it woke him up and meant my wife had to sleep there?

My wife and I have a 2.5-year-old son. He’s been sick with the flu for the past few days and his sleep has been really bad. When he wakes up in the middle of the night (usually between 1–3am), he almost always wants my wife, not me. If I go in, he screams and it takes a very long time for him to calm down and fall asleep, and my wife can’t sleep through it anyway. So most nights lately, she goes into his room and ends up sleeping there with him.

His bed isn’t comfortable — it’s small, full of stuffed animals, and he moves around a lot — so she’s been sleeping badly for several nights in a row. She’s told me how exhausted she is.

Tonight, when we were getting into bed, I realized I had the wrong pillow and that my pillow was in our son’s bedroom. I knew he had finally fallen asleep, and I knew waking him would probably mean my wife having to go in again. I said I would go get it anyway but that I would then deal with the consequence if he did wake up. I used a flashlight, but of course he woke up.

As expected, our son started crying and only wanted my wife. I offered to go in, but realistically, that just prolongs things and makes it worse for everyone. My wife went to him, knowing she’d likely be stuck there for the rest of the night or at least a long time.

She was extremely upset with me and told me I should apologize and admit I was wrong — not just say sorry to move on, but actually acknowledge that I prioritized my comfort over hers. From her perspective, I now get to sleep comfortably in our big bed, with my pillow, while she’s once again in an uncomfortable toddler bed after days of bad sleep.

I did say I was sorry and said I wouldn’t do it again, but she felt like I was being defensive and making excuses instead of fully owning that I shouldn’t have gone in there in the first place.

I didn’t intend to make her night worse — I just wanted my pillow — but I did know the likely outcome and did it anyway. I did think though that I would deal with the consequence but my wife went anyways in front of me.

So… AITAH?