The art of sleep: Perhaps I’ve mastered it?

Oh gosh. Look at me getting cocky. I know that whenever I write about sleep {especially regarding a particular toddler who prefers not to sleep} it usually goes pretty quickly downhill afterwards. So I am tempting fate here, by writing about sleep again…

I’ve always felt Mondays are great for starting new things. New things like diets, routines, plans, and this past Monday seemed like an ideal day to get the whip cracking on Lacey’s bedtimes.

Lately she’s been finally falling asleep later and later. Usually she’d finally go to sleep at 10pm but sometimes it would be 11pm. It was driving me bonkers. I’d hear Hubby snoring before Lacey had even showed signs of tiring. Not fair.

So in the early hours of Monday morning I wrote a list that looked something like this:

4:30pm – bath
5pm – quiet play
6pm – dinner
6:30pm – story time
7pm – bedtime

And then I added an hour each day of physical play and creative play, as well as trying to avoid daytime naps altogether.

When I told Hubby of my plans, he rolled his eyes and sighed, but was up for anything. We were spending less and less time alone together… and it was beginning to be really frustrating for us.

The first night went well. She fell asleep in her own bed at 7pm, came into our bed at midnight and then woke up at 7am the next morning happier than ever. She even passed out on the floor at 11am, much to my surprise.

The next night took a little more work as she was a little under the weather, but she eventually went to sleep at 7:30pm and slept until 8am the next morning. Last night she was asleep by 7:03pm and awake 12 hours later {with a few stirrings throughout the night}.

It’s like she’s a different little person. Less tantrums, more smiles. It’s also so nice to have adult conversations with Hubby without someone constantly trying to grab our attention. It almost feels odd.

Can you cross all your fingers and toes that this is it for us? Please?

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P.S. I know sleep is such a boring topic except for the person living it. So thanks for listening/reading… xx

P.P.S. That lovely print above is by the lovely AshleyG.

22 thoughts on “The art of sleep: Perhaps I’ve mastered it?”

  1. Congrats! I would not know myself these days with that much sleep! I haven't had more than 4 hours in a row for 7 months (yes, my bub is 7 months old). Sounds like all the playing tired your little one out – enjoy your Mum and Dad time in the evenings 🙂

  2. Ha, I've got one almost the exact same age who drives me nuts as well!! I fuss at her for an hour to get in her bed and stay before she'll settle down. Then it's another hour or so before she'll actually go to sleep. Trust me, it's not boring at all! At least she does go to sleep in her bed by herself now anyway. That in itself is a big deal. Now to get the baby to do the same. I've got four kids myself and it has been almost nine years since my husband and I have had our bed to ourselves. Hopefully not too much longer!!

  3. I know the feeling…I always say to myself when I talk to friends 'dont talk about sleep…dont talk about sleep..' its the most innane conversation unless you are right in the middle of the torture that is night times!! Ive been so exhausted lately that when my bub stirs I cant quite work out where I am or what Im doing. As soon as one sleeps through another is awake all night…the 7pm bedtime is a winner – eating in peace and watching tele is the ultimate parenting goal!!

  4. Oh yes indeed….the elusive sleep!! When my gorgeous son was about 18 months old…I was DESPERATE FOR SLEEP….So I read a book about sleeping (I had previously totally avoided reading the help books as they usually just made me feel inadequate), the book is called 'Save Our Sleep' by Tizzie Hall…..and it worked for us!!! My son is now nearly 3 and the only time he ever has sleep probs is when he's sick…which is totally understandable. We are a MUCH saner household lol Anyhoo what I'm trying to say is….there is something that works for everyone….and if it's woking for ya….WOOOHOOOO : ) Love and Peace xox

  5. I actually had a similar post in mind except it involved my EIGHT year old. I think I finally twigged how to help him get off the sleep and I swear I could do dances round the living room about it. So glad you're getting some rest. Long may it continue x

  6. Not boring at all especially if you have a toddler who isn't a good sleeper. My daughter is 2 1/2 and we have some good night's and some not so good night's but what does work for me is dinner, play, bath and bed ( my husband or l will read her some books in bed to settle her) this is all done between 7-7.30.
    Some night's she will go straight to sleep and sleep through other night's l can be in her room through out the night several times.
    I believe routine is very important, it's good for you and your child, and l do know how hard it is when you don't get enough sleep!. Sound's like your little routine is going well.

    P.S My daughter love's Lacey whenever she see's a photo of her on your blog she goes 'hi Lacey'

  7. Yay! I know how exciting it is!

    Strict bedtime routine works wonders for us. Even if they don't go to sleep they have to be in their bed by 7.15pm. Sometimes they come out, but it's straight back. Most of the time they go straight to sleep. My girls love knowing the routine (even if they don't always love going to bed).

    Good luck!

  8. Any Mum knows how important the topic of sleep is! We love our regular bedtimes. Doesn't always work, but chasing the occassional child back to bed is far better than sharing time with them and hubby. I love my evenings. Good luck sticking to your routine!

  9. I definitely have my fingers crossed for you!

    Our experience is that the more sleep they have, the more they want!

    For instance, our kids usually go down between 7-7.30pm and sleep until at least 6.30am, but if they stay up until 8am like they did when we had friends over last night, well lets just say that we were up from about 3.30am this morning with one or both of them, and then had tantrums if we tried to get them back to bed even though we knew they were so very tired! Keep it up and it will pay off!

  10. You have given me hope. 🙂

    Little Miss is 18 mo and we have just started to get her into her bed again until then she's been sick the past two days so back to square one. I know she'll get there eventually. And I think a structured routine would help us a bit more too. So I may try yours. 🙂

    I have everything crossed Lacey continues to be a good sleeper! xx

  11. The thing about sleep is that when you're not getting any, getting some is the only thing that you can think about! I have my fingers crossed for you that this is the turning point…

  12. Consider everything crossed!! All I can say is I'm glad we have a King size bed. Accommodating a baby and a toddler in our bed is certainly cutting down on the space 😉

  13. Thats fantastic! I hope it continues for you! I am big on the bedtime routine, the rest of the day can be all over the place but at night its always the same. I love the adult time, time to relax and talk to my hubby. Its better for everyone i think.
    Good luck! i hope you get more good sleeps! x

  14. Well done Chantelle! Sounds like a definite breakthrough. I think routine is always good. I try to follow it, but it always goes out the window, especially with my Mr3. Maybe I need to employ some of your methods to help bring about some serious change. I'll cross my fingers for you now :o)

  15. Chantelle, after reading and hearing about so many sad things (here and elsewhere) lately, I was so happy to read this. I absolutely have EVERYTHING crossed for you! As you know, we've also struggled with sleep and to finally get some is so refreshing, as well as strange and surreal. I keep waiting for it to all turn to s#*t again for us, but so far we're doing pretty well. I really do hope you start getting the regular unbroken sleep that you so badly need… all of you. xxx

  16. Great that you've put a time table and also stuck to it.. Most of the times what happens is i decide to put my boy to sleep early and after all the singing and quite play and stuff you see him more energetic and wanting to play more, thats when you give up and then i end up putting him to sleep around 11pm.. Some quite time with my husband after putting him to sleep is something i'm really really craving for.

    Hope i too come up with this kind of a success story one day 🙂 Cheers for your efforts

  17. That's great. Fingers crossed for you. I hope you finally claw back some of your lost sleep.

    If you don't mind, I may borrow some of your ideas to get our 2yo night owl to bed at a more decent time. She's otherwise not a bad sleeper, once we get her down.

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