Mums the Word: Sleeping

We start the bedtime routine around 5:30 - 6:00. bath time, books, nurse, bottle. She is usually lights out by the time we put her down around 6:30 and she usually sleeps till around 6:30 in the morning.

My sister and brother in law think we are ridiculous. Because, yes, if it is 5:00 and we are at their house on a Sunday afternoon it's time for us to leave because we've got to start getting her ready for bed soon. I can only imagine what Josh's friends (none of which have kids) think of us. On more than one occasion we haven't been able to hang out with everyone because call time is 4:30. Bummer.

But of course, we don't think we are ridiculous (said every crazy parent to themselves). Emerson's bedtime used to be 7:00, but then her pediatrician recommended we move it up half an hour in an effort to get her to sleep longer. And you know what? It worked. Instead of waking up at 5:30 in the morning she's now waking up at 6:30.

We've read a lot about the importance of sleep and helping a child to develop healthy sleep patterns. Literature everywhere states again and again how integral sleep is to a child's development - intellectually and behaviorally. So Josh and I are willing to take the occasional 'behind the back eye roll' if it's good for her.We loosely subscribe to the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child thought. And by loosely I mean we try and put her down when she shows signs of being tired. If she wakes up prematurely I'll let her fuss a little and more often than not she'll put herself back to sleep.

Have we found the best way? I don't know. There are so many philosophy's on sleep now it's hard to know which one to go with. And maybe there isn't a best. But I do know that sleep is a big issue in family homes. I get the parent who can't let their child cry it out. I sympathize, it hurts. I get it. I also understand the other parent who let's their child cry it out for an hour so they learn to soothe themselves. Sleeping through the night at 6 weeks? Wow. So I get that too. So we do what we do, not because it's the best thing, but it's the thing that works best for us. And whatever works for other parents out there is the best thing for them.

Just curious, what do you do?

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A previous Mums the Word on Babies Watching TV

Also, Cup of Jo is doing a series on parenting around the world. People do things so differently than us! Check out what parenting in Turkey looks like and what they do for sleep training in Australia. Fascinating!