A week or so ago there was an email thread going with a group of my fellow twin mommies discussing sleep. I really appreciate the dialogue and getting everyone's thoughts on the best sleep strategies. Within our little group, some have great sleepers, others have bad sleepers, others are somewhere between, and everyone has had at least some sleep issues since their children were born.
The exhausted parent is a BIG BUSINESS opportunity. Millions of dollars are made off of desperate parents looking 8 hours of consecutive sleep. Just do a quick google search, and you will find loads of literature you can buy, or people you can hire to consult with you on your child's sleep habits. These sleep consultants even claim that they have never met a child who they could not get to sleep through the night, providing parents were committed to the process. I am often surprised that the TV Show The Dragons Den has not featured a person selling some sort of device for getting kids to sleep.
I have come to the realization that not every baby/child is going to sleep through the night or have a 3 hour nap every afternoon allowing their mom to prepare a fabulous gourmet meal, but that doesn't make one a good parent or bad parent if their child happens to one of the children who keep food on the tables of sleep consultants, doulas and authors. If I was the only person who had a child who didn't sleep through the night, my local Chapters wouldn't have an entire section dedicated to Sleep Training, and there wouldn't be information sessions at the local baby store geared to sleep deprived parents willing to pull out the credit card for the 'hope' that their baby will give them a good nights sleep.
Here is a little excerpt from my contribution to the sleep strategy email thread.
My guys are far from STTN and I have accepted it. We have tried this and that with limited and temporary success. I was loosing sleep over lack of sleep. I was crying over it, doubting my abilities as a mother and feeling really down.
What helped me put things in perspective is that every stage is temporary. Yes I am tired, but my kids are happy, they smile at me in the morning and are healthy. What more can I really ask for? Eventually they will be ready to STTN, crawl, walk, feed themselves, use the toilet, change themselves, read, drive a car, move out etc...and I'll be wondering where by babies went.
This is a phase. I would rather be up all night comforting my boys as 10 month olds than being up all night wondering where my 16 year olds went with the car.
Every stage will test my patience in different ways...I just need to remember that eventually it will pass.
I will state it here in writing "I will not make any more 'donations' to the sleep business". My boys will sleep through the night and take 3 hour naps when they are ready.
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