This post has been a long time coming but somehow, it worked out in the best way possible. I could introduce myself to you as a Sleep Expert, but something tells me that the sleep deprived mama in me is much more relatable. You see, if you’re anything like I am, you gave birth to your little one 18 days ago, or maybe a few months ago, or even a few years ago, but the one thing we both have in common is that we’ve been up all night trying to get our little babe to sleep. The big difference between you and I is that with my 18 day old little babe, I am sleep-deprived, but not bothered. Yes, I sprayed poop stain-remover in my hair instead of my de-tangler, and yes I baked banana muffins with salt instead of sugar, but I know that in a few weeks, my little newborn will be sleeping. Let me share with you a little bit about how I came to be a Sleep Sense Certified Sleep Consultant.
Rewind back to about three years ago. I was beyond thrilled to be expecting a little boy who stole my heart, before stealing every bit of my sleep. During pregnancy, I read lots of baby books, and those around me can tell you just how careful I was with every, single, thing I consumed. But, for some reason, I never read too much about sleep. Sure, after congratulating me for my pregnancy, the next words that people usually said were “sleep while you can”, but I figured it would all work itself out.
Fast forward to about five months after having my little Nicholas. I had returned back to work and often I would wonder why I even bothered actually attempting to go to sleep. I should probably just wear my work clothes, sit in a chair, and wait until the morning to go to work because it wasn’t like I was going to get any sleep anyway. I had developed a whole system. Around 10 p.m. I would load up a tray full of five bottles, each with exactly 2 ounces of formula. Pour my warm water into my thermos and off to “bed” I would go. For every 45 mins to an hour that Nicholas would wake up, I would shake up my formula, feed it to him, fall “asleep”, and wait for the next wake-up. I was exhausted beyond belief, and I was hopeless. It wasn’t until a Facebook group had mentioned something about a sleep trainer, who could get your little one sleeping in a few days. I was skeptical. How could this even be possible? I called her, expressed that I had given birth to the worst sleeper in history. I went on and on about how I had tried everything, I had even attempted to sleep train him myself, and failed. She listened patiently, and said, that’s great, when should we start? After the third night, Nicholas slept 7p.m. until 7 a.m. Nope, that’s not your tired eyes reading incorrectly. He SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!
About a year later, I decided that sleep training Nicholas was one of the most life-changing experiences of my life and I needed to do this for other moms. There were hundreds, and thousands of moms, who were as sleep-deprived, hopeless, and as skeptical as I was and I was going to be their person. I was going to do everything I could to get their sleep and sanity back. I was going to be the person who listens to them telling me they’ve tried it all, and they gave birth to the worst sleeper in history, and be the one to tell them, that’s great, when do we start?
Sleep Well,
Anet
Dress c/o Pink Blush
