In terms of baby's sleep, getting her to sleep throughout the night is most important. I've been reading ALOT of personal views over the internet and trying them out on her. Its a trial and error process. I've heard of babies that do not even sleep throughout the night even though they are over a year old.

You've may have read my previous success of getting her on a routine bed time. I've noticed that while I may not be good at a fixed bedtime, a routine regardless of the time works as well. This also goes to napping in the afternoons.

Previously (ie before she was a month old) she could nap right after feeding. Now, she doesnt want to nap. Getting her to nap was a nightmare. So I just left it at that and sometimes she could go on the whole day with just 45mins of nap. I thought the less sleep she got during the day, the better she could sleep at night. Thats when I started (or didnt notice until much later) to notice that she didnt sleep well at night either. Hourly wake up was the worst! I read somewhere that to get her to sleep well at night, she should take her naps in the afternoon. She didnt sleep well at night because she was overly tired.

Oookay.. I was highly doubtful of that at first because, hey, if *I* napped in the afternoons, I wouldnt be able to sleep at night. So I tried. After all, I'm still on maternity leave and I'll work out whats best for all of us (ie HY, me and baby). Viola! It worked on the first day.

Maybe she would wake up to have a feed.. or some comfort patting. But other than that, she started sleeping longer. First it was 5 hours. Then 6. Then 6 and a half. Then now reaching 7 and a half. It was a struggle to get her to sleep in the afternoons (not at night.. night time is a breeze. The house is clean after 9pm...).

To *trick* her to sleep in the afternoons, I had to devised a routine for naps as well. Since her feeding times are still erratic, I made it a point for me to put her to sleep after a feed. It can be quite tricky when u try to burp her... and then she goes all awake again. So what I did was I burped her every 2 ounces and before her milk finishes (lets say around 10-15 ml) I burp her again and then let her finish off her milk without burping her (I dont recomend this to colicky babies.. you'd have to burp colicky babies ALOT). THEN I put her on my chest (she likes to hear the rythm of a heartbeat... reminds her of the 9 months in the tummy) and start soothing her to sleep. Works everytime. Sometimes I get 45 mins. Sometimes 2 hours of sleep.

Bad part: She sleeps on you. You are then paralysed and unable to move and do stuff for the period she is asleep. But what would u rather have? A grumpy baby or a happy and well rested baby?

Some people may not like that idea. Some may say that this is called spoiling her. But I say, who cares anyway. She's just 2 months old and the only few things she knows how to do is to drink milk, sleep and play. Oh, and occassionaly smile and laugh at nothing. After all, she has spent 9 months in the tummy and used to being "cuddled" to sleep. I'll train her when she's older.

Anyway, the advice to all sleep deprived parents out there is to sleep when the baby sleeps. So this is my excuse to sleep WHEN the baby sleeps on ME. ;)