Ah sleep... The five little letters I used to take for granted. Or is it six - there are some days I’m so exhausted I’d swear I can see a third ‘e’ in there somewhere.
When I fell pregnant for the first time many parents felt compelled to tell me all the things I would never do again.
“Sleep while you can because that’ll be a thing of the past,” they said. “Say goodbye to your flat tummy” and “you’ll never go to the cinema again,” they warned - they certainly knew how to put a dampener on things…
Most of this pseudo-advice is rubbish, not to mention unhelpful. Trust me purveyors of parental doom, first time mums aren’t stupid.
We do have a vague idea how much work a baby will be. But we don’t need all of the negative stuff dumped at our prenatal door when we’re still worrying about the birth and balking at the price of a buggy.
But yes, naturally when a baby arrives, sleep becomes compromised. Massively. But it’s not forever, and once you accept it, invest in a good eye cream and as long as you don’t need to perform brain surgery following three nights of broken sleep, it really isn’t so bad.
Six months in, and my little chap wakes only once for a bottle during the night, which isn’t really all that different to getting up for the 3am wee I used to inevitably need after a night out.
Of course, any sleep routine you have built up goes out the window when a baby is sick, and there’s nothing quite as terrifying as the first time your little one has a temperature or seems unwell. Multiply that times ten at 4am.
There is a unique panic that can come with tiredness! I manage to un-know everything I thought I knew in the middle of the night and the advice I got from #FeverFighters has been invaluable.
This campaign by Nurofen for Children focuses on helping mums in the areas of sleep, nutrition and medication when their little one is unwell.
The advice from Niamh, the sleep expert I met, is let your baby sleep more when they’re unwell if they need to. Sod the eejits who tell you not to bring them into your bed if it makes it easier for you and more comforting for them. Keep an eye on heavy bedclothes and remember that you can medicate to bring a little one’s temperature down quickly – just read the label for the correct dosage.
