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Challenge: Sleep Confessions

Throw away that clock!

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When I had my baby, everything came to a screaming halt. No time for a shower, to eat, to go to the toilet and especially: no sleep. Needless to say we went sort of crazy. I wish we would have had common sense advice like these new baby tips (which I now send to all my expecting mom friends). But for some reason we were unable to think straight. We also didn't know back then that our son had silent reflux due to a dairy intolerance. We had the doctors look at our baby, but they always said it could not be milk. After months and months we actually did eliminate dairy from our diet, and the no sleep and horrible eczema disappeared.

So to say we found something that worked, not really. The sleep problems were because of a problem that we solved way too late. However, there were some things that definitely helped to keep us sane. One thing was co-sleeping with a big mattrass on the floor. If the baby needed me, I was there without having to wake up too much. Another thing that helped was babywearing. Not only did it help with the reflux, but we were also able to do whatever we needed to while carrying the baby. It was also a great way for my boyfriend to bond with his son.

The weird thing I did that really worked

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But I guess a "weird" thing that I did, that really helped me, was getting rid of the clock in my bedroom. Before, whenever my baby woke up, I would always look at the clock and get frustrated at how little time he had been sleeping, or at which ungodly hour he woke up.

When I banned the alarm clock, I really didn't know what time in the night it was. And it made me much calmer. Which also helped the baby be more relaxed. I actually had better nights, and the hours that I slept, I slept better.

So I guess "letting go" can be a big part in helping you not stress out too much. In the end, the sleepless nights do fade away, and you will be glad you did not focus on that aspect of babies too much.


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