Abby and I have struggled greatly with sleep for last few months. This struggle has left us both exhausted most of the day. Sadly though Abby still refuses to nap during the day so the few hours we get are spastically placed throughout the night. Each evening begins well, a bath and story then a feed. Abby settles with relative easy around six o’clock. She wakes again around eight for a quick feed then is out until ten. After that Abby wakes every hour and a half for a feed, sometimes at the one thirty mark Abby seems to think its morning. She wakes up all smiles and giggles ready to start her day, blissfully unaware of the hour or my need for sleep.

We now trying everything under the sun to improve our sleep issues. We have moved Abby’s entire sleep routine to her bedroom, although this can feel quite lonely for me. This now means from 5:30 ish until sometimes well into 8:00pm I’m in Abby’s room with her alone. I know that once her routine is better this too will change as she will know what to expect from sleep time.

We have also begun to try and introduce nap times during the day as it was suggested to me that maybe Abby is over tiered, similar to her mother! At 10 am and 1 pm we are now having ‘quiet time’ and Abby lays down in her crib and rests. I find it so silly that when teaching young children I can plan out their day with naps and snacks no problem. I am also great at sticking to this schedule, yet when it comes to my own child I fall apart and have such a difficult time putting my foot down.

So far the naps and new bedtime routine have been going well. Abby’s tears are short lived as are mine.