Today after getting a pretty good sleep for the first time in months I looked down at my sweet boy all covered in mushy weetbix and half chewed pieces of watermelon and I thought Woah! How crazy is this? I made you! You are half me and half the person who I love the most in this world but hang on… now you are the person who I love the most in this world.
It might sound silly but it was a bit of an eureka moment for me. I’ve been so tired lately. I mean dead tired, crazy, living zombie kinda tired that I think i’d forgotten how amazing this tiny human sitting in front of me truly is. He’s so smart, cuddly, curious and smiley. Full of boundless energy and games galore. He loves his truck book, pulling himself up on EVERYTHING, smiling at strangers in the supermarket and chewing on my hair. He can climb the 18 stairs in our house and does it at every chance he gets, he can remember where all his toys are even though he moves them around throughout the day. He likes to swing and dance and sing Old MacDonald.
How amazing is he? He’s only been on this planet for less than 9 months and he already knows all these things and is capable of so much and yet here I am expecting so much more of him. “Why can’t he sleep through the night?” “Why can’t he go to sleep during the day without crying in my arms?” “Why does he have to get food EVERYWHERE??”
The short answer is because he is learning.
He is learning so much everyday. Some of those little tasks like eating and sleeping are things we take for granted but they are really huge tasks for a baby. These tasks take time to master and a lot of patience from us. This last month has been hard on our family and I think I’ve been getting so caught up in what other people’s babies are doing that I forgot to see how much my baby can do. When I’m working as a teacher I try not to compare children too much because I know how unique they each are and how they develop in their own time but as a new mum it’s so hard not too!
Last week I went to Plunket and my lovely but rather old school nurse said to me “Oh! He’s not sleeping through the night yet?!” and I quickly followed up with “Not yet but he’ll get there” She said “Oh so he sleeps well during the day then?” “No…” I said “He has three 30 min cat naps” “Oh!!” she said with a look that felt a lot like disapproval to me and I couldn't help feeling like a failure as a mum and as an Early childhood teacher. If only she knew how much her comments resonated with me. As someone who spends there life looking after other people’s children and finding answers for them only to have none for my own child.
I must have read over a hundred mum forums and articles about infant sleep by now searching for that magic tip only to come up with nothing. Maybe he’s sleeping too often? Maybe he’s not sleeping enough? Maybe he’s teething? Maybe he has a food allergy? Maybe, maybe, maybe and to tell you the truth I feel like I’ve actually tried everything at this point and am now just at the point of acceptance. It is what it is. I have a happy, healthy, handsome, sweet, amazing boy who is learning and growing so much everyday and sure he doesn't sleep as much as the books say he’s meant to but maybe thats just another part of what makes him so special.
Amazing babies
It might sound silly but it was a bit of an eureka moment for me. I’ve been so tired lately. I mean dead tired, crazy, living zombie kinda tired that I think i’d forgotten how amazing this tiny human sitting in front of me truly is. He’s so smart, cuddly, curious and smiley. Full of boundless energy and games galore. He loves his truck book, pulling himself up on EVERYTHING, smiling at strangers in the supermarket and chewing on my hair. He can climb the 18 stairs in our house and does it at every chance he gets, he can remember where all his toys are even though he moves them around throughout the day. He likes to swing and dance and sing Old MacDonald.
How amazing is he? He’s only been on this planet for less than 9 months and he already knows all these things and is capable of so much and yet here I am expecting so much more of him. “Why can’t he sleep through the night?” “Why can’t he go to sleep during the day without crying in my arms?” “Why does he have to get food EVERYWHERE??” The short answer is because he is learning.
He is learning so much everyday. Some of those little tasks like eating and sleeping are things we take for granted but they are really huge tasks for a baby. These tasks take time to master and a lot of patience from us. This last month has been hard on our family and I think I’ve been getting so caught up in what other people’s babies are doing that I forgot to see how much my baby can do. When I’m working as a teacher I try not to compare children too much because I know how unique they each are and how they develop in their own time but as a new mum it’s so hard not too!
Sleeping through the night is not actually the 'norm' for babies under one...
Last week I went to Plunket and my lovely but rather old school nurse said to me “Oh! He’s not sleeping through the night yet?!” and I quickly followed up with “Not yet but he’ll get there” She said “Oh so he sleeps well during the day then?” “No…” I said “He has three 30 min cat naps” “Oh!!” she said with a look that felt a lot like disapproval to me and I couldn't help feeling like a failure as a mum and as an Early childhood teacher. If only she knew how much her comments resonated with me. As someone who spends there life looking after other people’s children and finding answers for them only to have none for my own child.
I must have read over a hundred mum forums and articles about infant sleep by now searching for that magic tip only to come up with nothing. Maybe he’s sleeping too often? Maybe he’s not sleeping enough? Maybe he’s teething? Maybe he has a food allergy? Maybe, maybe, maybe and to tell you the truth I feel like I’ve actually tried everything at this point and am now just at the point of acceptance. It is what it is. I have a happy, healthy, handsome, sweet, amazing boy who is learning and growing so much everyday and sure he doesn't sleep as much as the books say he’s meant to but maybe thats just another part of what makes him so special.
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