Really throwing back to the roots of The Bean Bible and sharing some of my personal experiences – I’m here to tell you a bit about our sleep struggle with Hunter. It could help you, it might just be an insight into us (you nosy parker) and it may just be a time filler while you hide from your kids on the loo.

When Evie was born, we had no idea what we were doing – she slept in her own cot in her own room from day dot. It worked.

When Hunter came home he slept in a bassinet next to me until he quite literally couldn’t fit anymore (I even let him sleep on the floor in the Bugaboo bassinet to extend his time there!).

Both of my babies have been cat nappers during the day since day one, and both have always been rocked or held to sleep. This has kicked us up the arse because Evie still needs us to be right there/holding her to sleep (unless she’s in the pram) and she’s 2 next week. They both also have the rain app to soothe them to see, and I am 100% ok with this.

I’m a bit of a hippie, and I believe babies should be with their mums/cry because they want them however Hunter (who wakes 2 hourly through the night) is now nearly 12 kgs and if you’ve been following us you’ll see that he’s been sick a lot since birth as well.

It all came to a head this last 2 weeks when he had another hospital stay. I ended up leaving him with a nurse and walked away sobbing after he wouldn’t settle and I quite physically couldn’t hold him anymore – I was completely drained. There was nothing anything could do and in the end she had to give him back to me. I had my sisters Hens lunch on Saturday just gone and was dreading coming home, purely because I knew the battles that lie ahead for any nap time with him.

I believe that things have to hit rock bottom sometimes to make a change, and this is what happened with us. Chris was away camping, I had the kids solo for the night. After after 2 attempts of getting him down, one bath and meal time in between, I eventually put him to bed with the rain app and walked away. I ate dinner. I watched the monitor. I listened to him scream. I went and laid him down again once and kissed him on the head before walking out.

I watched him stand crying. I watched him sit crying. I watched him eventually lay down crying, and then sleep. I couldn’t believe it. All of this was under 5 minutes. I had tried leaving him before, and I had certainly tried with Evie when she was younger too (but she got to vomiting stage – she was crazy. Still is mind you).

Basically, ever since then, every single nap involves me laying him down in his cot with his sleeping bag and walking away. The first 2 days he cried and I would lay him down again, but now he only cries a little when I first lay him down and by stops the time I’m at the door. I know this sounds so simple, but he is our ‘shit sleeper’. But you know what? We’re only on day 5 and he already has longer naps during the day, and last night he sleep 630 – 630 WITH ONE BOTTLE AT 4AM AND BACK TO SLEEP IMMEDIATELY.

LYF IS GUD. Now if someone could just tell Evie she isn’t allowed to stay up until we go to bed, and she has to sleep in her own bed, that’d be GRAND.