Coachamatic

Anyone who has had a baby knows that sleeping can be a challenge, to put it mildly!

How much of that challenge is based on reality vs expectation?

So our daughter Samantha is still a wee babe at just over 6 months… and up until about a month ago she was sleeping great. What changed a month ago? My perspective, that’s what.

Samantha has slept with us in our bed since day one… for the first week of her life I tried to get her to sleep in her own co-sleeper which was literally attached to our bed, but she would have none of it. She would cry everytime we put her in there, and wouldn’t stop until she was snugged up right beside me… where she would then ’sleep like the proverbial baby’.  So after a week I quit trying to put her in her co-sleeper and just kept her in bed with us, where we all slept quite contently. I’m thinking that nature meant for a baby to be close to it’s mother, and that’s why she sleeps so well this way (or so it seems).

About a month ago I got it in my head that Sam should ‘learn to sleep in her crib’. Now really, as I type this I can’t honestly say why that suddenly became so important - it was partially a safety thing (how do we keep her in our bed once she starts crawling?), partially a grandma thing (will that child ever see the inside of her crib?) and partially a general expectation that ”good mothers put babies in cribs to sleep” that comes from I don’t know where… its probably from “them”, you know those who “they” are don’t you?

Well since i’ve gotten that into my head we’ve found ourselves having more of a struggle at nighttime… trying to put her down in her crib, where she wakes up after just a couple of hours and ends up back in bed with us anyhow. And trying various ways to get her to fall asleep vs. the one way we know works wonderfully (nursing). The more we try to fix this so called problem the less sleep we all get.

Which leads me to wonder, why are we trying to push the issue at this time? Why not just take the ‘easier road’ where all of us are getting more sleep?

And then the devil on my shoulder says ‘but then Samantha will never learn to sleep on her own and will be in your bed until she’s 13… ooooo  ah ah AH’.

Be that as it may, i’m ready to just get some sleep. Perhaps I will regret it in a few years, but i’m tired of struggling and feeling like i’m forcing something before it’s time. What’s the hurry anyhow? She’s only been on this earth for 6 months so far, there’s a whole lifetime ahead of her to learn all this life stuff.

Besides, it sure is fun to snuggle with a sleeping baby. And one heckuva nice way to wake up in the morning, to that smiling face.

And a final note… Why is it that the first question people ask parents of a small child is ‘how are they sleeping?’ Strange really, when you think of it. Aren’t there more exciting things to inquire about?

Posted on Oct 16th 06 by Tina Forsyth.

Via OnlineBusinessManager.com, Tina writes and consults in advanced online marketing and business systems for business owners and their support teams. She is co-author of Money Meaning and Beyond and Pink Spoon Marketing (both with Andrea Lee) and a Partner in Multiple Streams of Coaching Income and the Multiple Streams Team. When you can drag her away from her computer you can find Tina at home in Lethbridge, Alberta with her husband Dan, daughter Samantha and noisy cat Shadow. http://www.onlinebusinessmanager.com

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