Sleep, how I've missed thee!

If you're a frequent reader, you might know by now that we have two children - an almost four year old (often termed a threenager - this couldn't be more accurate!) and an almost one year old. As most parents do, they often find their second one a bit easier. You're not learning how to be a parent, you're just learning how to parent this child. You've already changed first nappies, learned how to bathe your child without dropping them etc.

Sleep is a whole different issue, however! With our first we had a lot of issues trying to get her to sleep in her cot in the day time. Let's just say, I had a lot of exercise in the first 18 months - two years of her life, walking the streets of Canberra in 40 degree heat (or -3 degree cold) because she would only sleep in the pram. I was very very keen not to do that again second time around, and was given a book written by a woman named Jo Ryan, called Baby Bliss. What a brilliant book that was. It tells you all of the common sense things that as a rational person, you should know. For example, a small baby can only be awake for 45 mins or so before they're ready for bed. Despite best advice from others, do you think I even thought about that with our first....no! Strangely, I find that when you read something, even if it is on the Internet and its source may be questionable, I often find that I remember it better. So, I read and read and referred to this book time and again, and our little man was a champion sleeper! Woohoo!! As the months went on, he was still great during the day, but the night, well....not so much.

I was feeding him back to sleep because it was easier, but I was a walking zombie!! It didn't help that the little man didn't take a bottle, so it was up to me every time! So, after some long nights I decided to engage the services of another Jo. Jo Whelan of www.babywhisperer.com.au came over to my house and can I just say, what she did was not hard; it was not complicated. There was a lot of common sense in it, with the gist being, give your little man a chance to get back to sleep himself, and sleep he did!

This is by no means a paid advertisement, but as busy people, who are often overwhelmed and can't see a way ahead through their bleary sleep-deprived eyes, I figure any help might be welcomed with open arms! If anyone wants to chat, I would be happy to sing her praises. She's based on the Mornington Peninsula but does all sorts of consultations. 

Well, he's napping now, so I'm off to play Connect Four with the threenager. Enjoy the rest of this sunny day (well in Melbourne anyway).