How to get a toddler to go the f**k to sleep

Go the f**k to sleepDoes your toddler love bedtime?  Mine does.  As long as I am not trying to actually get her to sleep.

Here are her top five Sleep Avoidance tactics:

-She will always want the one cuddly toy that I can’t find.

-She takes take twice as long to go to sleep whenever I have plans (normally to drink wine in my pjyamas). Continue reading

16 things you will find in every family home

When you have children it does not take long for your once tidy and organised house to become a bit of a mess.

Nothing is ever where you left it (except crap. Crap is always where you left it. Every-bloody-where). You tidy up by shoving things in cupboards and you never seem to get around to that big ‘sort out’ you have been planning for the past two years.

If this sounds like your house, you may recognise a few of these things: Continue reading

How to Survive the Expert Advice When Your Baby Won’t Sleep

expert‘SIXTEEN hours they say she needs! What are we doing wrong?’ I yell at my husband, who rolls over sleepily to join me for our regular nightly debate.

‘Is she hungry? Is she teething? Is she eating her teeth? She falls fast asleep on me but as soon as I even think about putting her in the cot she wakes up screaming!’

‘Do you check her limbs are limp?’ He enquired. Continue reading

19 dirty secrets of a sleep-deprived parent

I used to have a clean house, clean clothes and clean hair.

Then I had children.

My standards gradually slipped lower and lower and before I knew it,  I was eating the remains of a rice cake off the floor to avoid having to walk to the bin.

Not because I am lazy; but because some days, I am just too tired to care.

Here are a few dirty secrets that only a really tired parent will understand:

When I am vacuuming, I will stamp on an old biscuit to make it fit up the hoover pipe instead of picking it up.

I have thrown away dirty saucepans because I can’t face scrubbing them.

I have told my kids the DVD player is broken so I don’t have to put one on for them. If it is not on the Sky planner, they are not watching it.

I have put the same wash on six times because I am too tired to hang it out.

I have thrown out baby clothes after a nappy leak rather than clean them.

I have watched the ‘no signal’ sign bobbing about the screen for hours because I can’t reach the remote control.

I have also watched the blue screen on the CBeebies channel at night for the same reason.

I have taken alternate bites of bread and cheese because making a sandwich is too much effort.

I wear the same pair of socks for at least three days to avoid more laundry.

I like to watch something dirty on the TV

If a child wees on the settee I sometimes just throw a towel over it until it dries.

I never wash my bras.

I will tell my partner I am popping out for milk then sit in the car park outside the supermarket for half an hour enjoying the peace.

I only wash the bed sheets when someone pukes or pisses on them.

I will spend half an hour rearranging the dishwasher so I don’t have to wash up the one cup that won’t fit.

I never answer the phone because conversations are way too much effort.

I use my bag for life to keep carrier bags in which kid of defeats the object.

My TV is permanently covered in dirty handprints.

I will use any suitable substitute I can find when I run out of toilet roll to avoid a trip to the shop. Kitchen roll, baby wipes, the cardboard inner tube, sanitary towels or cotton wool.

I only properly tidy up the house when I have people coming to visit.

Do you have any dirty secrets to share? Tell us in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.


THE BOOK

Check out my new book that contains no baby sleep advice whatsoever…

Just lots of laughs and tips on surviving the sleepless nights . It covers everything from from Postnatal Illness and how to avoid killing your partner when you have babies and how to really and truly get your baby to sleep (eventually).

Sleep Is For The Weak: How To Survive When Your Baby Won’t Go The FzZk To Sleep at book shops or on Amazon now!! Also on Kindle.

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SURVIVOR STORY: How not to say it with flowers

Me in first weekOur latest Sleep Thief Survivor Steph Douglas is mother to toddlers Buster (4) and Mabel (2).

She was inspired to set up her unique business after she received countless bunches of flowers following the birth of her eldest child, Buster.

However, she found she lacked the energy (or vases) to care for anything other than her newborn! As a result, the 34-year-old launched Don’t Buy Her Flowers which offers thoughtful care packages for new mums.
Continue reading

How to Win at Sleep-Deprivation

funny2For many of us, sleep-deprivation is an unavoidable aspect of parenthood.

When your bundle of joy spits in the eye of sleep – all you can do is stock up on coffee and hope that everyone is right;  ‘this too shall (bloody well) pass’.

Living on barely any sleep is tough.  It can make you forgetful, clumsy, prone to talking rubbish and a lot of the time you will wake up feeling like crap.

In many ways, it is very similar to being drunk. Continue reading

The A to Z of Sleep-Deprived Parenting

a-to-z

A glossary of parenting terms you won’t find in the baby books…

Arm Roll & Release: The nerve-wracking manoeuvre used by parents in order to remove their arm from under a sleeping baby.

Booby-trapped: Term used to describe being stuck breastfeeding when you have a pressing engagement (or really need a wee). Continue reading