If I could turn back time

If I could turn back time I'd start it all over again.

Not because the last 7 months have been anything less than spectacular but because I have learned so much.

Everywhere I go - pregnant women abound - I try to provide them with guidance based on my mistakes. I wish I knew back then what I know now. Hopefully these lessons will stick for the second one, not that that is happening anytime soon :).

Lesson 1:

Schedule, schedule, schedule

If you don't keep a consistent routine for naps, eating and bedtime then your little one will think its a free for all.

Lesson 2: Get rid of all sleep associations

Say bye bye to the boob, pacifier, bottle or loving hands by the fourth month and teach your baby how to fall asleep on his/her own.

Lesson 3: Keep travel to a minimum until you have solidified lessons two and three.

May be the toughest, seeing as you have more than two weeks vacation but in my case, every time we hit the road, Hannah decided not to hit the sack.

When you're running on just hours of sleep it seems difficult to keep these lessons in mind but in the long round things will get smoother a whole lot faster.

I look at where we stand today and feel like Hannah has been pinged and ponged back and forth between different techniques. Falling asleep at the boob, napping in the car, resting our heads on her chest as she dozed off...it changes every month so its no wonder she's still no sleeping restlessly.

Seeing as time is not on my side (unless someone out there has invented a time machine), going forward it will be all about consistency. I have another week long trip planned at the end of the month but feel that it might be best for the four of us (especially Winston who starts panting heavily when the crying begins) to stay put until sleep gets sorted out. Not ideal but maybe the right decision for now. We'll see what the coming week brings.

Two weeks ago (prior a trip to the country) we were happily getting sleep from 7pm to 5am, with just a loving hand on her cheek and a tip toe out of the room. If we can be there again by the end of the week, with a nap or two (in the crib) thrown in, I will definite re-consider our travel plans.