Sleep! Glorious Sleep… that life essential that I said good bye too a little over 6 years ago. I was warned before I became a mum that the lack of sleep would drive me crazy … but little did I know that it would take over my life! Everyone seemed to ask about it… Is she a good sleeper? Is she sleeping through the night yet (no Eileen, she’s 6 weeks old) Do you get much sleep? All of a sudden I discovered that sleep was now considered a major milestone in the life of my child and somehow an indication of how good a mother I was. So, as a mum of 3 children (all of which had very...
Mere days or even hours after hearing those initial cries of your firstborn and it inevitably begins. Someone’s baby is “easiest”, sleepiest, biggest, the best feeder. There’s nothing like hearing other new mums around you discuss their 6 week old sleeping through the night to make you feel like a failure. One mother feels she is accused of making a rod for her own back by co-sleeping while eyebrows are raised as another is viewed as heartless for pursuing a strict routine. The competitive parenting can begin from day one and is such a shock for new parents who until this moment have gone about their daily lives without constant judgment and evaluation. Social evaluation in this highly personal but...
When I was pregnant with my first child I had so many ideas of what life as a mother would be like. 3 children later it’s not quite as I imagined…… Expectations for sleep My baby would sleep and if not I’d read a book and do some effective sleep training and they’d sleep through early. Reality Nope. I’ve not even read a single parenting book. Surely the answer is on Mumsnet? Nope. Turns out there is no answer. Only survival. Some of mine slept, one didn’t, and I treated them all the same. Expectations for feeding They’d all be breastfed but happily take bottles too so I’d be able to get my freedom back pretty fast. Reality I've...
