For those of you who know me, know I have two kids. Those who know me probably also know that my second child gets her energy from sunshine and rainbows, and not healthy sleep like the rest of the world. My first child had been, and for the most part still is, a great sleeper. So when my sweet little Quinn joined the world, I was thrilled to discover she loved it too.
The first two months of her life were bliss. Aside from the normal struggles with having 2 kids two years apart, I found it pretty easy. Sure life was a cit chaotic, and Quinn nursed every 3 hours, but over night we would get some 5 hour stretches of sleep, and sometimes 8. To a mom, that is a dream.
Fast forward to today. A friend had messaged me and asked if I was interested in a sleep training book she had received via pdf. She can commiserate as she often comments on my status updates that consist of Quinn's nightly shenanigans. I replied with of course, because when your child is close to 2 and you still don't sleep, you will read/do just about anything to get them into slumber.
Upon opening the file I began to read, realizing I had read this before. Instead of putting in away, I continued to read. Realizing that when I read it last time, (Quinn was approx. 6months of age) I had only been sleep deprived for 4 months so I probably assumed she would just grow out of it. Well we are at 20 months of age and if you saw her, you would be shocked that she doesn't face plant considering how little she sleeps.
People always say, well how is she during the day? To which I reply 'She is wonderful and pleasant.' Well I was reading the book and read that children who are sleep deprived usually lose their temper and get irritated quickly, not unlike me, the 'sometimes Mega-Bitch' who barely sleeps and gets cranky easily. Today I am lucky enough to only have Quinn home with me. My oldest is having a camp day today so I am really able to see what quinn is really like. Well the distraction of two kids has kept me blinded. While Quinn is a happy child most often, I watched her multiple times today get angry very quickly about small meaningless things. That is a sign of being sleep deprived that was masked by having two kids.
It also breaks down sleep and discusses why it is important and why we should treat it as importantly as eating. It is nourishment. I certainly wouldn't not feed my child food, so why am I letting her be deprived of sleep? We all need sleep to allow our bodies to replenish our energy so that we aren't cranky 'Mega-bitches', or Mini ones as the case may be.
So while people hear the words sleep training and cringe thinking it is just putting your kid in bed, closing the door and ignoring them, it isn't. Your child doesn't know how to walk by watching you do it once in front of them. We teach them. We show them how, we hold their hand, and when they finally get it, we watch them with joy as the discover a tool that will help them their entire life. It is about time I stop blaming my child for my sleepless nights and resenting the fact that I don't see my husband because we are both just too tired.
Its about time we start to Sleep Teach our child so she can discover the skill of sleeping (one of my favorite skills), and be the healthiest and happiest version of herself. Because if there was a quick fix for making a child sleep, I would be shouting it from the roof tops (for a small fee of course :)
So lets put our parenting tools to the test and see if you can teach a 'not quite old' dog new tricks.
-Natalie
"The best way to see what tomorrow brings is to sleep through the night". - Annonymous
Check out my facebook page to see how she does: https://www.facebook.com/thelifeofnfrizzle
The first two months of her life were bliss. Aside from the normal struggles with having 2 kids two years apart, I found it pretty easy. Sure life was a cit chaotic, and Quinn nursed every 3 hours, but over night we would get some 5 hour stretches of sleep, and sometimes 8. To a mom, that is a dream.
Fast forward to today. A friend had messaged me and asked if I was interested in a sleep training book she had received via pdf. She can commiserate as she often comments on my status updates that consist of Quinn's nightly shenanigans. I replied with of course, because when your child is close to 2 and you still don't sleep, you will read/do just about anything to get them into slumber.
Upon opening the file I began to read, realizing I had read this before. Instead of putting in away, I continued to read. Realizing that when I read it last time, (Quinn was approx. 6months of age) I had only been sleep deprived for 4 months so I probably assumed she would just grow out of it. Well we are at 20 months of age and if you saw her, you would be shocked that she doesn't face plant considering how little she sleeps.
People always say, well how is she during the day? To which I reply 'She is wonderful and pleasant.' Well I was reading the book and read that children who are sleep deprived usually lose their temper and get irritated quickly, not unlike me, the 'sometimes Mega-Bitch' who barely sleeps and gets cranky easily. Today I am lucky enough to only have Quinn home with me. My oldest is having a camp day today so I am really able to see what quinn is really like. Well the distraction of two kids has kept me blinded. While Quinn is a happy child most often, I watched her multiple times today get angry very quickly about small meaningless things. That is a sign of being sleep deprived that was masked by having two kids.
It also breaks down sleep and discusses why it is important and why we should treat it as importantly as eating. It is nourishment. I certainly wouldn't not feed my child food, so why am I letting her be deprived of sleep? We all need sleep to allow our bodies to replenish our energy so that we aren't cranky 'Mega-bitches', or Mini ones as the case may be.
So while people hear the words sleep training and cringe thinking it is just putting your kid in bed, closing the door and ignoring them, it isn't. Your child doesn't know how to walk by watching you do it once in front of them. We teach them. We show them how, we hold their hand, and when they finally get it, we watch them with joy as the discover a tool that will help them their entire life. It is about time I stop blaming my child for my sleepless nights and resenting the fact that I don't see my husband because we are both just too tired.
Its about time we start to Sleep Teach our child so she can discover the skill of sleeping (one of my favorite skills), and be the healthiest and happiest version of herself. Because if there was a quick fix for making a child sleep, I would be shouting it from the roof tops (for a small fee of course :)
So lets put our parenting tools to the test and see if you can teach a 'not quite old' dog new tricks.
-Natalie
"The best way to see what tomorrow brings is to sleep through the night". - Annonymous
Check out my facebook page to see how she does: https://www.facebook.com/thelifeofnfrizzle