Surviving Sleepless Nights

I figured the best way to introduce a blog about living with 3under3 (that's 3 kids under 3) is talking about the lack of sleep parents of closely spaced children get.

Heck, parents of young children in general, particularly newborns, rarely get the 'recommended' sleep they need. I actually have 2 kids under 2 at the moment and am pregnant with #3, expecting in April. My first 2 are 13.5 months apart. Most nights they sleep great. In fact by 12 weeks I had both of them sleeping through the night in their own cribs. They slept with me prior to that.

There are however nights when I don't get any sleep. Take last night for example. My youngest had a bout of tummy flu, so wouldn't you know it I was up with her all night long. That's tough, especially when I know I have to find time to fit in work and chase my 2 year old around during the day.

I guess the key is sleeping when you can as much as you can. Sleep deprivation is a normal part of parenting closely spaced children. Fortunately there are many was you can get your child to sleep. There are a host of books written on the subject. There is the "Ferber" method, "Cry It Out" plan, "Attachment Parenting" and the "Baby Wise" scheme.

I've found over the years what works best is a combination of techniques to help your children nod off to dreamyland. No one child is the same when it comes to sleeping, so why try to use the same routine for each?

I consider myself lucky. I am one of few parents I know whose kids are in bed by 7:30 and rarely wake before 6 or 7 the next morning. Now that's an achievment!