Sleep.

 'It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.'

 This is my favourite quote and very appropriate for my blog post this week. I have decided after much thought about what I was going to write about this week in the end it came down to sleep. Something I haven't had much of this week, Xavier unfortunately is getting his 7th tooth on the way, is right in the middle of a wonder week and has a terrible cold. Sleep, something mums never really get enough of! 

 Xavier was a dream baby from the start, all he ever did was sleep!! Every 3 hrs he'd wake for a feed then he'd pass out again and go back into slumberland. I look back now and wish i'd taken every chance to sleep when he did instead of watching him sleep and doing housework. Well Xavier's sleep pattern soon changed as he became more and more alert, my dream baby was not such a dream sleeper anymore. While everybody else was telling the world how their babies were sleeping several hours I'm sitting listening and feeling very jealous, why was I the one with the baby who thought night time was for partying?? I then had to start wrapping his arms tightly as he couldn't sleep with his arms out, this helped a little but not a great deal (soon the wrapping habit became a great deal to get him out of it).

 By 4 months he had to be swaddled for EVERY sleep and I tried several different wraps, he was still waking every 3 hours with the occasional 4 hour. I read an article in which it described how swaddling a baby can cause problems with their legs as they are supposed to sleep like a frog (legs spread) so they're legs and hips can grow in the correct direction. This terrified me so then became the long 2 month struggle of getting Xavier used to be unwrapped. This was fine, except I then got him into a habit of needing to be rocked to sleep, so basically I replaced a habit with another habit. still all my friends babies were sleeping through the night and I was still getting up every 3hrs at the age of 6 months old, I started to think maybe it was something I was doing wrong? I was feeding him food by this stage, giving him plenty of bottles and an overload of attention and affection, what was I doing wrong?

I read several different books and articles on sleep, sleep patterns and ways to improve their sleep and daytime routine. Nothing worked! Thankfully by 7 months he was doing 5 hour sleeps, better than before but I would really like a full night. Obviously my exceptions were high which I now realise is unfair to expect out of baby, I certainly never slept ALL night, I get up for bathroom breaks and a glass of water so why was I expecting so much out of a little baby?

 By month seven Xavier was now sleeping unswaddled and after many nights of what others may call control crying but I like to think of it as teaching him independence and safe sleeping. I never let him cry himself to sleep but would let him grizzle and id settle, grizzle and settle until eventually he gave in. If you do your research into the crys etc this way of safe sleeping is fantastic! After nine long months Xavier suddenly started to sleep through, wow a miracle happened my little baby decided to give his mumma a rest! Unfortnately this only lasted a month but I enjoyed every bit of it while it was happening. 

 My baby is now 10 months old and still not a great sleeper, I have gotten used to it and I know one day he'll be grown up and sleeping the day away. So for now I'm leaving the books, leaving the fact that other mummas babies are sleeping through and appreciating the fact that I have a healthy baby boy who is growing beautifully.