The night time diaries – Guest post series

Last night whilst I was sat up with Ava until a god awful hour I started thinking. I’m sure I’m not the only one doing this , having next to no sleep and not having a bed to myself as I have given in a started to co-sleep. This is where the night-time diaries come from . Over the coming weeks there will be guest posts from fellow bloggers about how their night times go from the planned to precision bedtimes. To the parents doing anything just to grab half an hours sleep.

To kick it off I thought I would share with you my night time story the good, bad and the ugly.

   How many children do you have and what are their ages?

If you’re a regular reader you will know I have one little girl called Ava.

  What is your normal night time routine?

We have got into a pretty good routine. This consists of bath, bottle and bed. Ava 9/10 goes to bed pretty easy she doesn’t always stay there though. I have found having a good routine makes life a lot easier but I have found if I miss out a bath she doesn’t go to bed as easy.

Have you purchased any products to help your child sleep (night lights, dream sheep) and have your found them to be effective?

What haven’t we brought to make Ava go to the sleep . We brought Ewan the dream sheep and this worked well to start with. we have night lights and a musical hippo this is Ava’s favourite along with her dummy and bunny.

Does your little one sleep in a cot/ bed or do you co-sleep?

When I first had Ava I was adamant she was going to sleep in her cot. As the months passed the time she spends in her cot has got less and less. Most nights now she will sleep in her own bed until about midnight. Then we go into the spare room and have a snuggle in bed as Jordan has to get up early for work.

What lengths have you gone to, to get your children to sleep? 

Well I don’t think there is anything I haven’t tried I have laid in her cot with her and also on the floor in the hope she will go to sleep in her cot. Before I give up and put her into bed with me. I’m also getting really good at what looks like an army crawl out of her room .As a floor board creak and her gaining my eye contact is dangerous.

Do you find night times as bad as you expected before becoming a parent?

To start with night times were a dream, Ava slept through from a really early age. Then when she hit 6 months it all changed. I had a good couple of weeks of no sleep and walking around like a zombie. It is getting a lot better and at least when she is in with me she sleeps really well.

Would you change anything about how you have done things at night time?

Maybe not give up so easy and put her into bed with me, but at the end of the day I would do anything for a few hours sleep!

What piece of advice would you give to a parent struggling with night times?

Do what you can to get some sleep. A good night time routine is a fab starting point but don’t feel bad if you co-sleep. I know many people frown upon it. Say I’m letting her win but then I bet they have a good solid 7 hours sleep each night.

Hopefully I have helped someone out there feel a little better. About the horrid nights they are having. keep an out for some awesome guest posts in the night time diaries.

would you like to talk part in the guest post series then email me Harveyjessica2016@gmail.com