Saturday, March 14, 2009

Magical March: Day 14

This afternoon I was thinking about what I would write today on the subject of magic. It was while Moo was having her afternoon nap and I starting thinking about what life used to be like not too many months ago. Then, after reading Ellieboo's post I decided that today's magic would definitely be a good nights sleep.
As far as newborns go Moo was a great sleeper. After just a few weeks she was letting me sleep from 11-5. But then things went pear shaped. Moo was lactose intolerant (not that we knew it then) and her sleep was being disturbed. She got into bad habits and this lead to terrible multiple night wakings. We went through a period of getting up hourly and I was a mess. We tried all kinds of things to get her to sleep except for controlled crying because that was totally unacceptable in my book. (Just my personal opinion. I'm not judging anyone). Finally, we weaned when she turned one, changed to lactose free formula and went through the learning to sleep again journey with the help of Elizabeth Pantley's book, 'The No Cry Sleep Solution.' Now she sleeps from 8-8 and naps from 2-4 and I'm the happiest Mum in the world. That's no exaggeration. I can now appreciate a good uninterrupted sleep.
I know what it's like to feel so sleep deprived that you feel like you should be admitted to a mental institution and I know that there are some of you out there have felt the same - you've told me. Sometimes I think it's the 'mum's secret shame' - especially when other mothers are going on about how their little darlings sleep like angels!

So, to cut a long story short, truly, getting a good nights sleep is magical.

To all the mums (and dads and carers) out there, I hope you get a good nights sleep tonight......

PS - I think I may still have cot/crib bar indentations on my forehead from all the hours I slept sitting up with my face smushed into the side of Moo's cot. : (

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