The sleep myth everyone has one. Let's clear it up now. Babies are NOT designed to sleep through the night. If fact it's dangerous for your young baby to sleep that deeply. Know that even the experts have children who don't sleep through the night. I promise you because I teach positive, gentle sleep techniques and I've had a terrible few weeks. I've survived though!

I've had to take a break from the podcast as my daughter when through a developmental leap, which, as you guessed it had a knock-on effect on her sleep. So rule 101 during that time for me is survival. To survive, I need to go to bed early as I know multiple wake ups will happen.

Being realistic with what children's sleep looks like is the key to getting through it. Don't base your expectations on what other children do or on what books are selling you an idea of sleeping through tell you. I believe if a child is frequently waking after every sleep cycle there is a reason. Usually, this is a comfort requirement, but other times it could be illness or just plain old developmental. Children grow the fastest and the most in the first two years of their life than any other time in their lifetime, so are we really that surprised it has such a knock on effect to their sleep?

I stick a simple pattern to encourage good transitions and rely on bedspring to ensure I get through the frequent wake-ups. Now I seem to have got through the worst of it, so now life can resume until the next time.

Throughout this time, I may have had to put my life on hold to survive but at no point was my child left in distress. To me parenting in the evening is as important if not more important than daytime parenting.
In today's podcast, I share a few of my tricks and tips to get through those difficult nights.
Recommended reading
Sarah Ockwell Smith - The Gentle Sleep book; Deborah Jackson - Three in a bed

Photo credit:- Julia and Mia
Intro music: Bensound