Bethany Jacobs – Attached to Sleep

You absolutely adore this beautiful new life you’ve brought into the world–and you’re willing to do almost anything to make sure s/he gets what s/he needs.

But when your ‘morning’ s with crying in the middle of the night–for months and months on end…
Or when you’re on day 10 or 12 of multiple nighttime wakeups…
Or when you can’t even enjoy a single glass of Rose on the couch without a toddler crawling out of bed and into your lap or an infant crying from the next room…

It’s easy to resort to feeling helpless–and hopeless–and wonder if you’ll ever get your nights (and mornings–and heck, days!) back.

Life for a new mama (or a new mama…for a second, third or fourth time) is stressful enough.

But when your new little love isn’t sleeping well (or at all) on top of everything else, it can be downright daunting.

And at this point, you’ve heard it all.

“Oh no–don’t nurse him back to sleep. It’s bad for him.”
“It’s probably the food. Try giving him solids before bed.”
“You know, she really should be sleeping through the night by now…” <p “=””>

Don’t get me wrong: You want to do what’s best for your baby, but sometimes you find yourself headed down the path of least resistance and nursing your little one back to sleep, spending hours consoling him with rocking and lullabies and all his favorite sleep time toys–or even bed-sharing (even though it’s not ideal).

You keep telling yourself you’ll get around to finding another (hopefully more effective) sleep training method–in the morning.

But by the time morning rolls around–and you’re actually able to roll yourself out of your cozy bed–you’ve lost all motivation for pretty much anything.

<p “=””>And the daytime isn’t any better: Between naps that don’t actually happen and feeding that feels neverending, you never quite get to relax, unwind or recover. <p “=””>And by the time 6 or 7pm approaches…the battle to even get your little one to sleep in the first place s all over again.

And so it continues. On and on and on–for days, weeks or months at a time.

You know what I mean?

Trust me: I get it. You’re struggling. Your exhaustion is next level. And your poor baby isn’t learning the sleep and self-soothing skills you know he needs to know.

And it’s affecting the whole family.

Because your lack-of-sleep isn’t just preventing you from doing the little things you have to do–like, clean the house, whip up homemade tacos for Taco Tuesday, get dressed in real clothes (although that one’s debatable)…

It’s also preventing you from doing the things you want to do–like, catch up on your shows without interrupted,, take a hot bath with that new Lush bath bomb, even go out and socialize (although your friends have become a little hard to be around with their comments like, “You could try this!” or “Have you tried that?” and the always-flattering, “You look so exhausted.”)

Yep, just about everything feels like a battle these days. <p “=””>A battle between you and the baby and bedtime.
A battle between you and your partner (who–while well-meaning, doesn’t always take over, even when it’s “his night.”)
And even a battle between you and your parents or in-laws (because everybody has an opinion).

You’re seriously ing to wonder if you’re doing something wrong.

Because all the other new moms seem fine with all this!
They want to bed share.
They don’t mind nursing the whole night.
And some don’t even care about letting their kiddo cry it out (while your heart breaks if yours even makes a peep).

Other moms seem to chalk all this up to #momlife–and then, move on with their #momlives.

They wear their “Tired like a Mother” t-shirts with an air of pride.

And while you’d secretly love to be one of them….

…You know something needs to change.

The bottom line?
You truly want to be the best mom you can be.

<p “=””>You truly want to give your little one exactly what he or she needs to develop into a self-sufficient human. <p “=””>…But you also truly want to sleep.

And you’re (finally) ready to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

<div “=””>

Just imagine what life will be like when sleep (and nap) time is no longer a battle–for you or your little.

After Attached to Sleep….

• Bed time is predictable. You know exactly how to get your baby to sleep around the same time every single night. No one fights, because everyone knows what’s coming. S/he isn’t upset (and throwing a tantrum–or all his or her Paw Patrol toys) about going to bed, because they know how to listen to their own bodies and feel when they’re tired. (In fact, many moms say that after Attached to Sleep, their toddlers come up to them and say, “It’s time for bed, Mom.” Talk about a #momwin!)
• Your baby will fall–and stay–asleep. You’ll learn exactly how to put the days of persistent catnapping and multiple mid-night wake ups to rest, and help your babe get a full night of Zzz’s. Like, every night.
• Your little will develop healthy long-term sleep habits. These healthy sleep skills will follow your little one throughout life–so sleeping soundly should never be an issue, and insomnia, nighttime fears and other issues just.won’t.happen.
• You get more sleep–and more of your life back. Yes, you adore your child and that goes without saying. But just imagine what you could do with all the extra time (and energy) you’ll have once your baby finally s sleeping “like a baby” (and BTW–whoever made up that phrase clearly didn’t have a restless baby, am I right?). Just imagine being able to keep the house in livable order (aka not trip over building blocks or pacifiers) and meal prep for the week during the day because you’re not exhausted. Or take that epsom salt bath (complete with glass of wine) you’ve been not-so-literally dreaming about, without worrying that the baby’s going to wake up any second. Or even get gussied up and head out for date night with your love and not freak out over whether the babysitter will be able to put the baby to sleep. Ahhh, freedom.