KIDS GUIDE 2019

BUMPS & BEYOND

Sleep deprivation is the worst part of the newborn phase. I start to find it tough at around week three, once I’ve powered through the adrenaline and excitement. I’ve made a point of getting my babies into a routine as soon as possible – as a twin mum you have no choice really, unless you want to go absolutely potty! Keeping a routine and slowly tweaking the amount of milk in feeds really helped to sync my twins and get my children sleeping through the night quickly. For feeds after the dream feed at 10pm until the first feed of the morning at about 7am, I never let them exceed 100ml. This meant my children got used to not drinking large amounts at night. I would also use a dummy or gentle patting to try and get my children used to not feeding at night. I think knowing that the sleep deprivation is only temporary really helped my sanity. I’ve also been very fortunate to have employed an amazing confinement nanny called Jennie Yuen; she was able to handle the night feeds with my twins singlehandedly, while I woke up to pump. Lucie MANAGING How have you tackled the issue of sleep deprivation? THE ZZZ’s

All my children were very different, but I have to say the third has been by far the easiest baby. I think it’s definitely something to do with how much more relaxed you are as a parent. The baby is so chilled out! For your first child, you’re at their constant beck and call and you just can’t do that with three children. Know that the first couple of months will be difficult as you try to train the baby to sleep. Some babies just naturally want to sleep more. Freya is amazing and has been sleeping from 8pm to 6am since she was nine weeks old. My second daughter, Ava, had reflux so would scream constantly for hours! That was very, very difficult. Do whatever works for you, be it a soother, co-sleeping, Gina Ford – whatever it takes to get as much sleep as possible. Sarah

I nursed to sleep lying down with the baby in one of those next-to-me cribs; they’re great as it didn’t matter when I also fell asleep. I also got good at naps. Harriet

30 KIDS’ GUIDE2019