If you have been reading my blog for a while you will probably know that Bob isn’t the best sleeper. She has never been a big fan!
Don’t be fooled by this photo! She is very good at pretending! 🙂
When she was born she would only sleep for 30 minutes at a time and as soon as you tried to put her in her moses basket she would wake up. Over many months this gradually increase to 2 hours. The first time she slept for 2 hours I thought it was my birthday!
From the age of 2 she managed 3 hour sleeps and now, at almost 4 she is still up a couple of times in the night. I meet friend with babies who are a few months old and they sleep better than Bob!
A long time ago, after trying every trick in the book, I came to the conclusion that Bob and sleep would never be the best of friends!
Bedtimes used to be a nightmare! Again, I tried everything! We had a bedtime routine that we stuck to for quite some time as many books told me that it would help her to settle. It didn’t. Eventually I gave up trying all of the tried and tested methods and just made bedtimes as easy as possible.
I know many people will shout at me but either myself or my husband used to lie with Bob until she fell asleep. We’d take it in turns and it was much less stressful than all of the other options. When she became old enough to understand I explained to her that adults didn’t go to bed at the same time as children. I also told her that big girls could go to sleep all by themselves.
It took a while of me gradually removing myself from her bedtime. After we had read a story or 3 I would then sit on the floor beside her bed until she fell asleep. I then sat at her doorway and eventually I could give her a kiss goodnight and go downstairs.
When we first starting getting our evenings back it was so lovely! Getting to watch a film that wasn’t animated was such a treat! We couldn’t believe that some parents were lucky enough to have this from near the beginning.
Bob is still great at going to bed. She is never any trouble. She still wakes up a couple of times a night and she usually ends up in our bed at some point.
Recently Bob has decided that she would like a baby sister. She talks about it all the time. One day I decided to play a risky game. I told Bob that if we were to decide to try and have a baby brother or sister that she would have to grow up as mummy and daddy wouldn’t be able to take care of 2 babies. I said that this would mean sleeping all night long in her own bed.
That night she slept until 7am! She came running into our bedroom the next morning and shouted, ‘I have slept all night long! I can have a baby sister!’ The next night wasn’t as successful.
Blinds 2 Go have been conducting some research into stressful parts of parenting and they have discovered that bedtime is the worst time for most parents. You can read more about this here.
It is good to know that we are not alone. Not that I’d wish sleepless nights on anyone!
Oh I can totally relate to this, Boo never was a great sleeper when she was tiny, but I put this down to her silent reflux meaning she only settled when she was upright and had to feed little and often, which developed the habits that meant that she wokes often in the night. Things are a little better now (touch wood) but sometimes bedtime can be so stressful!
Bob had reflux too. It has a lot to answer for! Hope bedtimes get easier for you! xx
My daughter didn’t sleep at all when she was younger. She is now 30 and people ask me if she sleeps yet. 🙂
Oh dear! 🙂 x
I have 3 boys and all of their sleeping habits were very different. x