S**t sleeper survival guide

If like me you have a child who really doesn't enjoy nice long stretches of sleep you need to find a way to cope with tiredness and manage to still enjoy some sort of active lifestyle. Below are my top tips for surviving and thriving with a s**t sleeper.

1. Stop hoping they'll sleep through - The moment you accept that your child probably isn't going to sleep all night and joke with yourselves that you'll be up again in 1,2,3,4 hours (whatever our child does) you will stop feeling annoyed/disappointed/disheartened that your baby was up multiple times in the night.

2. Get an early night - It may sound obvious but make sure you get yourself to bed at a reasonable time and allow you body chance to switch off and wind down on an evening. (We head up to bed around 9pm)

3. No Phones allowed - Once you're in bed put your phone down and don't go on it during the night wakings as it only disrupts your circadian rhythm and makes it harder to drift back off to sleep. (i use the blue light filter on my phone in an evening leading up to bed time)

4. Have a nap - Try and fit a nap in some days when your baby has one. Sometimes a little nap a couple of times a week will do you the world of good. The housework can wait! i find it best to nap in a morning so it doesn't disrupt my evening sleep.

5. Accept help - let your partner/friend/mum/dad/whoever help you out at the weekend or during the day so you can grab a bath/shower or just sit down and enjoy a hot cup of tea/coffee. sometimes just 30 minuets to yourself is all you need to recharge and reset.

The key is maximising the sleep opportunity you have. A Harvard study found that viewing handheld technology in the hour before bed delayed the production of the sleep hormone melatonin by 90 minuets and cut levels in half making it harder to fall and stay asleep. (Thank you women's health for that info).

You may feel like your child is the only one who doesn't sleep all night, but lets be honest people aren't going to brag that they have a s**t sleeper so you just don't hear about it as much. It's perfectly normal for a young child to still wake up in the night be it for a feed or just for comfort.

Everyone will have an opinion on the matter but at the end of the day it's your child and your way. If you want to sleep train your child go for it (there are many techniques). If you don't believe in sleep training then that's also fine. Reuben can self settle and goes to sleep in his cot after been put down awake and he still wakes multiple times. They will sleep through/night wean when they are ready and not before!

Happy sleeping/surviving and thriving on little sleep!