One of the marks of motherhood is that a woman’s sleep will never be the same again; a child changes it all. Eight hours of sleep every night will turn into a luxury instead of the norm.
I had my fair share of sleep deprivation when it came to my daughter, Bella.
Bella was a breastfed baby. Every night, I would always nurse her to sleep because the fact is that we both loved the bonding time. Without knowing it, besides being her food source, my breasts turned into her sleep prop. She just would not sleep without it.
In the middle of the night, even when she was already past infancy, she would still wake up and look for my breasts to fall back to sleep. This went on until she was about a year old, when she started waking up every hour of the night – that was even worse compared to her newborn days.
I was praying hard that Bella would outgrow her night waking; I figured that if I endured it a bit more maybe finally she will learn to sleep on her own. But, it never happened. I was struggling and I found myself turning into this grumpy and tired monster, my patience was put on the very edge due to the fatigue.
I pity my daughter because she was still struggling to master her sleeping skills. She was not sleeping very soundly because she needs help to fall back to sleep every time she woke up in the middle of the night. That did not make her a happy baby.
The first attempt was horrible. Without much directions and anything to expect, my husband and I tried leaving her in the cot and asked her to go to sleep. She was confused and probably sad, she ended up wailing and asking for me, it completely broke my heart. 45 minutes later, I was back to nursing her to sleep, tears of guilt overcame me like a river.
A few weeks later we started again. We invested in a sleep training e-book that helped us prepare. Basically, the approach was to take it easy and slow, but with a very clear goal in mind and being in control of the situation.
It worked. Gradually, Bella learned to sleep on her own. In less than 10 days she was already sleeping through the night and no longer needed my breasts to help her sleep. In the beginning, we still had to deal with some crying, but with preparation we were ready to handle it.
Things improved for all of us – my baby slept and woke up happy and my husband and I had enough rest to recharge ourselves for the parenting challenges the next day.
In essence, sleep training was necessary to us. Good quality sleep is vital to ensure the wellbeing of the family; hence it’s important to take the right step of teaching our children to sleep on time and not let them get used to late bedtimes.
Here are some tips to start establishing good bedtime habits to younger children:
Begin a Bedtime Routine
Babies and toddlers thrive on routines, because they want to know what happens next. Make a bedtime routine with them – brushing teeth together, read a bedtime story or have a nice, cosy time snuggling in bed and talking about the day. Dim the lights and announce that it is bedtime, which would help set the mood to unwind.
Choose the Right Bedtime
The average sleep hours for babies and toddler is 10 hours, therefore make sure you choose the right bedtime. The nicest time would be right after dinner, around 8-9pm. Getting them to sleep early also means that you will also enjoy some personal time once they are asleep – something also helpful for parents to recharge.
Be Consistent
Once the routines and bedtime has been established, try to keep it consistent. It is not easy, but it is worth sticking to. Sometimes going away to the grandparents or holiday will disturb the pattern, but remember to re-establish it as soon as you return home.
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Ayuni is a mum to an effervescent 3-year-old daughter. She’s currently juggling motherhood and a full-time job while trying to be the next domestic goddess. She blogs about life, parenting and her homemaking endeavours at Mommy Confessionals.
Image credit: Sleep Tight Solutions
