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.
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.
When I came home from hospital with my first baby I became obsessed with everything being ‘normal.’ Is what my baby doing normal? Am I normal? Is this normal, is that normal?
I did everything I could to check that my newborn was progressing normally. I studied developmental charts in the What To Expect books and signed up for those monthly ‘Why The Hell Is My Baby Not Doing This Yet?’ emails that list all the things your little one really should be doing by now.
If you are a brand-new parent, a quick word of advice… Continue reading
Spend the first six months of parenthood in your pyjamas trying to get your baby to sleep, trying to get some sleep and trying to get stuff done on barely any sleep.
Establish a good bedtime routine. This is key to everything. Babies like to know exactly what to expect. So that they can do the exact opposite. Continue reading
Have you forgotten what it is like to sleep for an entire night?
Do you hate 4am? Why do babies often refuse to go back to sleep at 4am?
Do you regularly Google ‘can you die from lack of sleep?’ ‘Why the hell is my baby still awake?’ or ‘why won’t my baby stay asleep?’ Continue reading
IT is Saturday night. The baby is in bed before 9pm. This is good. I am still awake. This is also good. I have a BIG decision to make. Do I have a glass of wine in my pyjamas or do some writing? Continue reading
After reading (probably) all of the lists of tips for sleep-deprived parents on the entire internet, (including Ten Ways To Tell You Are Sleep-Deprived – der, I am not getting any sleep?!) it seems that all I need to do to feel better is to eat nuts, do yoga and sleep when the baby sleeps.
Well, I have no time for yoga, my baby doesn’t sleep and the only nuts I consume are in an occasional Snickers bar – so I came up with my own list… Continue reading
After almost three years of very little sleep I have gone beyond tired.
In fact, some days I don’t even feel sleepy any more.
So I think I am ok.
“I feel fine,” I smile to myself sipping on my super strong coffee. “Today I am going to Get Stuff Done.”
And it is on these days I decide to leave the house.
Big mistake. Continue reading
WHY is it when you have a baby everyone starts lying to you?
Some lie to make you feel better (health visitors, netmums, well-meaning friends) and some lie to make you feel worse (health visitors, netmums, not so well-meaning friends).
Of course, I only found this out two babies later. From the moment I arrived home with my first born I made the mistake of believing that everything people told me about babies was TRUE! Continue reading
How To Survive A Sleep Thief 