When you first have a baby your friends are great. They come to see you with bucket loads of cuddly toys and coo over your bundle of joy. They will offer to babysit ‘whenever you need a break’ and refer to themselves as Aunty/Uncle….
Enjoy this for about three weeks.
Then the honeymoon is well and truly over. Continue reading
Why is it that when you have a baby who does not sleep everyone else you meet seems to have a baby who does sleep?
Don’t get me wrong. I think it is great. I am honestly happy for these people.
I don’t even mind when they tell me about it.
Which they do.
Every time I see them. Continue reading
Al & Teddy
Sleep thief survivor Al Ferguson explains how becoming a dad and experiencing the pain of a miscarriage led to the creation of The Dad Network. The 26-year-old launched the website after finding there were very few places for men to share their feelings on the challenges of parenthood. Continue reading
My eyes are bloodshot and my head is throbbing. There is sick in my hair and my throat is sore from singing half the night.
I swear that this is the last time.
I promise myself I will do something about it.
But myself has heard it all before.
And she knows I am full of shit.
I LOVE Christmas. It is full of joy and laughter….
But what I especially love about the festive season is that it is the one time you get to break all the parenting rules and blame it on Christmas.
Mince pies before dinner tonight? Why not, it’s Christmas!
Sherry in the afternoon? Don’t mind if I do! It’s Christmas! Continue reading
The latest Sleep Thief Survivor Story is by nutritionist and herbalist Caroline Mentzer. On discovering that her daughter’s very poor sleep was due to food allergies, the 37-year-old turned her life around and went from rock bottom to a radio gig!
Caroline’s story:
“Early motherhood was a strange phenomenon for me. I’d been used to filling my time working two jobs whilst studying for a degree. I was blissfully and ignorantly looking forward to Melissa’s arrival so that I could slow down and spend some quality time as a family. After all, how difficult could it be? I was used to working hard, and I was aware that the first few months were tough when your baby needed feeding through the night. But nothing prepared me for the total upheaval I would experience when parenting a child that just won’t sleep. Continue reading
Before I had babies I used to buy fresh herbs, clothes and a lot of wine.
Now I have two babies and I buy ketchup and a little bit of wine.
But not so long ago, I could not even afford to buy ketchup, wine or anything else for that matter…
Continue reading
I don’t usually post recipes. This isn’t really that kind of blog. Plus, I don’t actually know any. However, the delicious chicken soup my husband makes is so good I thought I would share it with you.
INGREDIENTS:
The latest instalment in the Survivor Stories is by formerly sleep-deprived mother-of-two Leila Boukarim. On discovering her son was a Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) she decided to change the world…starting with a series of children’s books!
LEILA’S STORY:
“Prolonged sleep deprivation is a miserable, unnatural phenomenon that will drive anyone to the brink of total insanity. At times, I was convinced it might even kill me. And no matter how many books you read or what people will tell you, nothing can really prepare you for the nightmare that is sleep deprivation.
The fourth Survivor Story is by adventurer and mum-of-two Bronwyn Joy who not only survived a ‘sleep thief’ but managed to travel the world at the same time!
BRONWYN’S STORY:
I completed a Master’s Degree by coursework in Bioethics when my eldest was fifteen-months-old. The reason I’m starting an article about travel with kids like this (bear with me) is that I feel it was a great achievement in the face of extreme sleep-deprivation, only nobody ever seems to care.
Continue reading
How To Survive A Sleep Thief 