Baby Led Sleeping

[VerityClinch]

I'm not co-sleeping with my almost two year old against my own volition and against my better judgement because I am too soft to do controlled crying and if he wakes his three year old sister that's the whole house up and everyone will need a story before they go back down and although it is hilarious that DS rattles his cot bars shouting "awake, awake" it is not quite so hilarious at 4am for the fifth time that night...

Oh no. Not me.

I am doing Baby Led Sleeping,

(It's all about the branding dontcha know)

We're doing BLS with DD1 now 3.8yo. She's still up doing jigsaws and playing now. She will generally get into her own bed sometime around 10pm and maybe stay there after I lock my bedroom door. Bizarrely she might then get up, go to the living room and use baby wipes to clean the leather sofas or similar. I feel that this is expressing some need of hers and if she wants to perform late night cleaning I should not interfere.

DD2 (23months) is teething and we're trying the shhh, shhhh, pat, pat, drug with calpol, reinsert dummy, shh, shhh, pat, pat, drug with ibuprofen, shhh, sod it I'm going to bed controlled crying-

This thread is just at the right time to help me to understand why my bedtime routines are working for us. It's right in there with the co-sleeping, BLW with mush on spoon when it was convenient for me, toddler led toilet training etc that is my intuitive parenting. Thanks for the BLS!

Oh god, we're doing toddler led toilet training too (TLTT), I only just realised.

BLS needs a mantra. So if BLW's is 'foods for fun until they're one', what's BLS'?

'Sleeps against the law until they're four'?
'No sleep for me until they're three'?

"Doze, nap, or don't sleep AT ALL,
And that's how it goes, until they start school"?

"You'll feel like you are barely alive,
But it's all about their needs at least until they're five"?

"Other people might think that we're pricks,
But we're sure they'll sleep through by the time that they're six"?

With that last one, you've yet again made my day :)

YES!!!! Make me one of those badges. I'll take a window sticker and a car sticker too if you've got them.

How much better it feels to give it a name!

Write that book. And don't worry about being an expert. Half the baby books on my shelf (and they are legion) don't seem to have been written by experts.

SBx

And here was me thinking we were the only ones with a midnight cleaning child - have to admit I let her get on with it too!

I did tltt too. I'd be an attachmemt parenting mum if only I was a bit less shouty ...

I love this! We are definitely doing BLS - was just reading snippets of the thread to DH and we were both sniggering... Then DD woke up! Uh oh I hear calls for mummmmmmmyyyyy....

There are, in fact, many parallels between BLS and BLW.

You wouldn't force feed a child, would you? Well, then, don't force-sleep them either. They are individuals. Treat them as such.

BLW babies often wish to smear, mush and throw their food just to see what happens to it when they do. BLS babies clap, shout "oh no oh no oh no", sing, cry or throw their toys/dummies at 3am for the same reason.

BLW babies learn that mealtimes are social occasions, a time for sharing. You BLS baby wants your company at midnight, and maybe again at 3am. And 5am. 12 hours is a long time to go with no chit chat and conversation - ask any new mum - if your BLS baby suddenly has a genius idea at 3am then of course he wants to share it. He is obviously massively socially superior to all those 12 hours solid sleep babies who have clearly never had an independent thought in their lives.

3am may not suit you, but it sure as hell suits him. He has his whole life to be crushed by social niceties and conventions. Embrace your independent minded renegade baby. Who knows, he may turn out to be an up-all-night out of hours on-call doctor and the world could certainly do with a few more of them.