Let's Talk About Sleep, Baby

One of the most common questions I get from people is “is she sleeping through the night?”

Do you ever wake up in the night hungry? Or having to use the washroom? I thought so…so why do we expect our little babies to sleep through the whole night? I have not done “sleep training” with my little one, and I do not intend to any time soon (if at all). I believe that when she is ready she will sleep through the night, and during the day she will sleep when she needs it.

I used to be a really good sleeper, 8+ hours, maybe wake once in the night to use the washroom or have a little snack, so the adjustment to less sleep has been one of the hardest for me in motherhood so far.

The first few days after we brought her home, she would only sleep if she was laying on either myself or my husband. Thankfully he had a few days off of work so we took turns sleeping. One of us would hold her while the other slept for a couple hours and then we’d switch off.

Contact nap when little one was about 3 weeks old.

After those first few days, she would usually go in her bassinet for a few hours at a time…until she was about 2 months old. She’d be up in the night, I’d feed her, put her back in her bassinet and then literally 1 minute after I got back in bed and shut my eyes she’d be awake again. This happened MULTIPLE times for a few nights. I would cross my fingers just hoping that THIS time I laid her down would be the magic time she’d stay down for at least a little while so I could get some sleep. Lack of sleep is no joke on your mental state, I literally felt like I was going to die if I didn’t get some sleep. It seemed like even my bones were tired. And I may have eaten half a tub of ice cream one night at 3am to get me through it.

It took me a few days, which felt like forever, but I FINALLY figured out what the issue was. We were in the middle of a heat wave, so I was dressing her lighter at bed time since it was about +30 degrees Celsius in our house. However...she was a bit cold which is why she’d be fine falling asleep on me while I fed her and then up as soon as she was on her own in the bassinet. Once this issue was fixed and I understood her needs, she slept a bit better.

So to answer people’s question about whether she sleeps through the night … no, my little one at 3 and a half months old doesn’t “sleep through the night”, but I also don’t expect her to because I, even as an adult, don’t always sleep through the night.

Whether or not your little one sleeps through the night does not define your worth as a parent. Babies are meant to wake up for food, change of diaper, or closeness in the night, just like we might wake up for that midnight snack, a bathroom break, or snuggles with our partner. You just have to do what you need to do to get through it (like maybe eat a tub of ice cream), because it doesn’t last forever.

I follow @lilahbysleep on Instagram which I have found very helpful. Check them out for some extra support!

Remember, momma, YOU are doing an amazing job whether your babe sleeps through the night or not.