I’m a mom of two beautifully healthy babies, and I’m so grateful for that. I count my blessings everyday. I, like many moms however, have carried around many doubts and guilt around my motherhood journey. For me it’s mostly around breastfeeding.

It was my worst nightmare. It still is. My healthy chubby baby has lost over 14% of his birth weight and was admitted for 5 days. They pumped him with fluids and we began to give him formula. The fact that my baby had been starving, made me feel that I had failed as a new mother.

t’s a vicious cycle. You’re too exhausted to work on sleep, so you continue to be exhausted. You wish you had the energy to get your sleep situation sorted so you can rest but in the middle of the night all you want to do is SLEEP, so you do anything possible to get your baby back to sleep, so you can get some shut eye yourself. I GET it! I’ve been there!

Here’s the thing, most sleep deprived moms don’t have the energy to brush their teeth let alone be up for hours allowing baby to figure out self soothing, or comforting and providing that support while your baby navigates going from awake, to drowsy, to asleep. We can’t force a baby to sleep, we can’t make them self soothe, we can only provide the ideal conditions and opportunities for them, and be there for them as they figure things out. THAT takes work, lots of patience and most of all consistency.

Does this sound like your nights?

Baby falls asleep rocking, nursing, singing, bouncing..is then placed ever so gently in their crib and you can finally get some good nights rest. Or not. You go to sleep reluctantly knowing that you will be up in a few hours to rock, nurse, sing, bounce. The seconds on the clock tick away and every second is time you could be sleeping but instead you’re anticipating that wake up. Without fail you’re up at 1, 3, 4:30, 5 and well then up for the day (why not).

You’re exhausted, baby is exhausted and you drag your feet all day in a state of blur.

Let me tell you you’re not alone.

What is self care anyway? When people say that to me, I just think of being able to take a shower alone. Or having a tea that’s not cold…

3 ways to fit "self-care" into your busy lives.

Okay, so if you’ve read my last blog post “Nap Transitions: When it’s time to drop a nap!” and you've evaluated your situation and decided your baby is really ready to drop that nap. Let’s talk about how to do it!

Here are 7 steps to dropping that nap

Babies are funny. Just as you think you have their schedules figured out and you begin getting the hang of this nap thing. They go and grow, their sleep requirements change and the nap games begins again! Don’t get too comfortable mama, I’m about to pull a fast one on you!

Three signs your baby is ready to drop their nap.

Establishing healthy habits right from the very beginning is an excellent way to avoid sleep problems down the road. It’s really about understanding how newborns sleep and beginning to work with them to create great sleep habits and associations (yes associations can be good!).