If you follow me on Instagram you will know that it’s been approximately 11 and a half months since my last decent sleep.

Whenever I tell people that Poppy doesn’t sleep through the night, the response usually goes something like this, ‘Have you tried…’

and my response goes a little like…

‘I’ve tried…

• sleeping with her nightlight on
• sleeping with her light off
• installing black out curtains
• sleeping with the curtains wide open
• dressing her in a short sleeved baby grow
• dressing her in a footless baby grow
• wrapping her in a thick blanket
• wrapping her with a thin muslin
• removing her ‘Sleepyhead’ from her cot
• putting her ‘Sleepyhead’ back in her cot
• raising her mattress at one side
• giving her a toy to cuddle
• having earlier nap times
• having later nap times
• having shorter nap times
• moving bath time to earlier in the day
• giving her a bottle before her bath
• giving her a bottle after her bath
• moving her dinner time to earlier in the day
• singing lullabies (yes me personally singing…it’s horrific!)
• playing Brahms lullabies on loop throughout the night
• playing ‘Say Hello to the Sun’ song on repeat
• blaring white noise
• inserting a dummy into her crying mouth
• brushing her hair
• playing quietly in her darkened room an hour before bedtime
• a strict ‘no tv 2 hours before bedtime’ policy
• putting her to bed when she’s almost asleep
• putting her to bed when she’s fully asleep (thumb is fully out of the mouth!)
• standing over her cot and rubbing her stomach,  leg, hand…any body part I can actually reach
• sleeping on the floor next to her while wedging my hands through the rails of the cot (why didn’t I buy one of those cots where the sides slide down?!)
• crying it out
• wedging her in-between Ian and I

I’ve given up! She must be teething.  That’s the answer to everything, right?