Sleep Deprivation – The Huge & Ugly Monster

We have been trying to consistently post on our blog every week with Monday being the target but as it was Caleb’s 5th birthday last week, things were a bit busier than usual.  And every time the kid’s birthdays come around, all the memories of their times as babies start emerging again.  Caleb’s birth was particularly an emotional one (maybe more about that later) but one of the things that always comes up for me is the Sleep Program we did – not for Caleb but for Abel as things were pretty difficult back then with two young kids and another little one coming along.  I would go as far as saying it probably saved my life back then – Ellie and Caleb were taking turns waking up every hour throughout the night and as much as Anthony tried, they only wanted mommy. From a recommendation from a friend who had experience with the company, I booked the Sleep Nurture program with Precious Moments Babeez.

This Sleep Nurturing program is only for younger babies under 3 months old) and uses very gentle methods of shaping babies into a sleep routine.  And it worked wonders for Abel – he was sleeping overnight by probably about 8 weeks.  And all their tips & “tricks” are things we applied (and still do!) to our older two and now our Newborn Sessions – they were the ones who introduced us to the sound machine, shushing & soothing and pacifiers.

The program is heavily based on schedules, routines, impeccable feeds and an ideal room environment among a few other important criteria.

Both programs focus on ensuring a great room environment, routines, feeds and schedules which help build the foundation of good long-term sleep habits however the main difference between the 2 programs is how much help the parent offers to the child. With babies under 16 weeks, we want parents to support their Child’s sleep learning by assisting them hands-on in helping them to calm and consolidate sleep. With babies over 16 weeks, we may need to break some habits they have learned and reinstall new habits by supporting independent sleep.

We know not everyone may agree with sleep training and that’s okay but for us, sleep deprivation was a huge and ugly monster and without this program, I’m not sure how I would have gotten through those early days.  Especially for working moms, it’s more than okay to get some help.