In Search of Sleep.

We don't sleep very well in this family. I can't actually remember the last time one of us got a full eight hours of sleep. I think you just get used to it after a while. Well I do anyway. If I am not waking up myself to pee, then I am getting up to soothe a nightmare, or pat a child back to sleep. I find it really funny that when you are pregnant the first time people tell you, "oh, get sleep when you can"...or after the baby is born they then say "Sleep when the baby sleeps." like it is easy or something.

I just think as parents we just get used to sleep depravation.

Then there is the sleep trainers. They lead parents to believe that babies are supposed to sleep a minimum of 8hrs a day and that just is not true for all babies. Each child is really different and while some are just born good sleepers, others are not.

I think it has more to do with the parent's temperament really. What I mean is that some people are light sleepers and some are not. I know for myself and my husband nighttime is so different for us. My husband wakes up so fast, even for the slightest noise. I, on the other hand can sleep through a 4 year old climbing in my bed, and a two year old trying to twiddle, and a baby nursing through the night. So sleep comes easy for me...and not even that, but I seem to be able to live on much less sleep.

So when people rely on baby trainers I really just think that perhaps they need more sleep than some other person. Some times I think that it's needed, if used in the right way (like not neglecting your child, and checking on them periodically). Is a mother who beats her child, or yells, or whatever because her sleep deprivation is leading to depression, or severe mood swings worse or better than a sleep trainer?

What do you think??