How I Felt Better When My Baby Wouldn’t Sleep

Do you like to sleep?

I do.

And in true new Mom fashion, it’s been in short supply in recent years.

For instance, it was quite a shock to find that after a 39-hour labor, I didn’t get a long sleep. Nope. Babies need things. (I feel like no one told me this.)

And from there, Baby Aurelia woke up every hour or two. All night. For years. It was exhausting.

But you know what was worse than feeling exhausted?

Feeling that I was doing a terrible job.

I tried all the tricks they tell you in New Mom School.

I rocked. I bobbed. I sang. I scheduled nap times. I tried harder at scheduling nap times. I drove. Mainly to a drive-thru so I could get a snack. Sometimes late at night.

I was messing this up. And frankly, so was my baby.

Eventually, after many months, I came across a group in Australia with a completely different way of looking at babies and sleeping. They didn’t think the answer was even stricter daytime nap schedules.

They didn’t think I even had a problem.

So I ditched the schedules and celebrated what baby Aurelia was good at—falling asleep when she tired, wherever that was. I got out more. I met half the village as I wandered around with her strapped to my chest. We took her Christmas caroling.

Overnight I felt better.

I was still tired. But now I was happy-tired.

Without self-criticism, life was more fun. Our baby just had a different way from what was currently being taught. Turns out it was actually pretty common.

The switch from stressed out and worried to carefree (or more carefree) happens instantly when we ditch self-judgment.

What I am about to say will not be news. I know that you know that judging yourself is not helpful. Heck, we all know that.

But my sweet and well-intentioned brain does it anyway. All day long. About big and small things. One of the ways the human brain makes sense of the world is to compare us to other people and to where it thinks we should be.

That’s why it’s easy for those judgy thoughts to come up. This is a reminder post.

Are you judging yourself for where you’re at?

What if your life right now is perfect? What if the weight you are right now is perfect? What if the amount of money you’re earning right now is perfect? What if your health situation is perfect?

What if the fact that you messed up the directions to find the tire store three times resulted in an extra hour of driving around town in the midday heat? (That was me yesterday)?

Pat yourself on the back for being right where you are.

Picture yourself springboarding into life from this point. Change what you want to change, but know that right now, for whatever reason, this is perfect.

Because it is.

Let’s put a line under that, shall we?

Love Lisa

PS: I am getting more sleep now. Hats off to parents everywhere going about their day, feeling fuzzy and tired.

PPS: It’s good to be back!

PPPS: Want to learn how to get more done while doing less? Check out my 6-week Do Nothing Meditation Coaching Program. Summer class starts June 21.

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