Sleep: The Truth Is…

Molly’s Story

“The truth is that when you adopt, sticking to a sleep routine is absolutely essential. When we bought our son home, we stuck to the same routine that he was used to at his foster home. He felt safe and secure in that routine and keeping it in place helped him to settle in an environment that was totally new to him.”

Danielle’s Story

“The truth is, I feel like sleep is a distant memory! When you’re a baby’s parent, there just isn’t much sleep.

I think the first two weeks after your baby arrives are a blur. It’s almost like having jet leg because you’re up at such random hours and everything seems a little foggy.

I miss continuous sleep. I didn’t sleep much through my pregnancy because I was up going to the loo what felt like every two seconds. And then once my baby arrived, I was in a constant cycle of sleep, wake, feed, change, repeat.

I’ve almost become used to the tiredness, but I’m very fortune that I can get back to sleep after waking in the night. Plus, I try to sneak in the odd nap when my mum pops over to visit which helps a lot!

Now, we’re going through teething, which brings a new set of challenges and sleep deprivation. My daughter is one, and sometimes she only wakes once or twice through the night. Other evenings, I’m back and forth for at least two and a half hours.

My son is three now, and he’s gone through a stage of sleeping right through the night. So, I keep reminding myself that it will get better as my little ones get bigger. Everything is seasonal and there will come a day when I’m asking them to wake up and get out of bed.

If you are at a stage where you’re still getting sleep, enjoy it while you can!”

Sarah and Laura’s Story

“The truth is that sleep and babies don’t go well together, at least based on our experience. Our first child slept through the night from six weeks, and our second just hates sleep.

Tiredness can really affect your relationship. Because you’re both exhausted, you’re short with each other and a lot of things can get lost in translation. Lack of sleep can really make things hard, so we’ve chosen to focus on communication in our relationship because we know that if we’re both tired, it’s easy to fall out over the smallest of things.

Truthfully, you’ve just got to take support from wherever you can get it. For instance, once a week Sarah takes over night feeds and bottle feeds our baby, so that I can get a full night’s sleep. We’ve had a few family members stay over to help with early morning responsibilities because we were finding that just as our baby was settled and asleep, our toddler would wake up.

Even just one night of restful sleep can make a massive difference!

When raising children, you learn on the job, but before we became parents, we did actually do a lot of research into sleep routines and training. With our first child, we put in a sleep routine from around four months, and it worked really well.”

Gianni’s Story

“When it comes to sleeping, the truth is you’re going to be the one sleeping like a baby. By that I mean waking up with the smallest little movement or sound! I am up multiple times throughout the night checking on my girls and I just don’t sleep the same since becoming a mom.

We co-sleep because my youngest daughter is still nursing, so it’s easier for me to have her in the bed with me. For the first six weeks, it was pretty hard. Me and my husband were up off and on throughout the night, and then I had them by myself during the day when he went back to work.

Lack of sleep did take a toll on our relationship, because as soon as I had a moment of spare time, all I wanted to do was go and lie down and decompress. I basically felt like a zombie and was so tired, both mentally and physically.

After opening up and understanding that I’m not superwoman, things started to get better. Now that the dust has started to settle and we’re more into our groove, things have improved!”

Sam and Rob’s Story

“The truth is that we made a lot of scarifies personally to ensure that we had a strong sleep routine with our daughter. Fortunately for us, those sacrifices have paid dividends in the long run.”

Jessa and Jaryd’s

“Before we became parents, we were often told to prepare to never sleep again! But the truth is, your journey is your journey. You may get woken up all the time, or you may find a good balance. It just depends on the baby.

You can do things to help like put structure and a routine in place. It’s just about finding what works for you.

All babies are different and if you think you’re doing the right thing for your family, you’ll be ok.

Remember, you will sleep again!”