Honestly, waking up through the night to tend to my baby hasn’t really bothered me that much. Obviously it’s been hard at times… really hard. But I’ve tried not to obsess over it despite everyone you come into contact with seeming to associate a ‘good’ baby with one that sleeps well. I just figured all babies are different and ours would eventually stop night waking in his own time.
After 19 months night waking has just become part of my life. Only now it’s once a night instead of every two hours, and usually all I have to do is prepare a bottle for Jesse to feed to himself while I go back to bed. That seems totally dreamy to me given that for a very long time I was probably spending more time awake than asleep through the night. Especially during the 10 months I was breastfeeding.
The topic of ‘sleeping through’ has often come up, usually Kaine saying “This is ridiculous, shouldn’t he be sleeping through the night by now?” This coming from the person who, 9 times out of 10, hears nothing!
I think the first time Jesse ‘slept through’ he was about 14 months. It has been becoming more of a regular occurrence recently, perhaps once a week. But, with the stark realisation that I will very soon be returning to those sleepless nights once again, it would be great to have one child sleeping continuously.
In comes the Lulla Doll. I have been intrigued by the Lulla Doll for some time now and wondered if it would help. Jesse has never been attached to a blanket or soft toy (despite me trying to force these things!) for comfort and self settling but I figured it was worth a shot.
If he hated it or if we were too late on the band wagon, at least number two might benefit from it.
Lulla has now been in our house for almost two weeks. On night one I took Jesse into his room, gave him his bottle and handed him Lulla; his first time hearing the heavy breathing and heartbeat. He protested and promptly handed it back to me. I tried again and Lulla was thrown on the floor.
Night two was very similar but by night three he was happy to have Lulla lie next to him. It seemed it was taking him less time to fall asleep but he still woke up once each night for a bottle.
On night four he actually gave Lulla a cuddle and slept through until 5am with no waking. Following that night, he has now slept through every night since except maybe one or two.
While we can’t be sure if Lulla is actually helping, I’m very happy that sleep through’s are becoming more frequent. Even if Jesse has been waking super early.
We’ve had a two week heat wave here in Brisbane with temperatures reaching 30 degrees by early morning, so I’m not surprised he’s up early.
Would I recommend it to others? Sure. Lulla is definitely worth a shot for any sleep deprived family. Though no sleep aid will ever take the place of a cuddle with mummy or daddy, we all need a break sometime.
not so secret life of us 