the168

Before we had children, my partner and I were night owls. We stayed up late cooking elaborate dinners, binge-watching TV shows, playing games with friends online, and dancing around our living room until sunrise. (I mean, it was The Pandemic. The world turned upside down and time ceased to exist.)

Then I came pregnancy – and I’d read that carrying a child is similar to running a marathon every single ay in terms of energy expenditure. No biggie, yet I needed more sleep. We made the effort of going to bed before midnight and frankly were very proud of ourselves. But then my son was born and “before midnight” was not cutting it anymore.

Most babies wake up at night because their sleep cycles are much shorter than the adults’, and babies haven’t figured out how to connect them seamlessly. So they need our help soothing them back to sleep. Sometimes several times per night, which makes me think whoever came up with the cute saying “sleeping like a baby” either never had a baby or enjoyed having their sleep interrupted.

I had quickly learned that babies’ sleep is not linear (big thanks to Sarah Ockwell-Smith for giving me the resources to adjust to this realization). Your baby may sleep relatively well in the first two-three months and then surprise! Clue in the infamous 4-month sleep regression.

It’s a wild ride. And at the lowest points my son would wake up what felt like every hour or two. This is when I started going to bed at 8 pm just so I could stack up my nightly “naps” in between his wakings.

His sleep did eventually get better. He’s now four years old and sleeps roughly between 8:30 pm and 7 am every night. But those early days made a lasting impression on me. I no longer take my sleep for granted. 9 pm is I when I aim to be in bed so that I could snuggle in with a book before snoozing off ideally before 10 o’clock.

Sleep is a precious commodity and it was becoming a parent that made me realize this, for which I am forever grateful.

At what time do you go to bed? Drop a comment below to discuss!