Let me tell you first up that I am not someone who operates well on little sleep.

I’ve managed it maybe once or twice, and I’d give myself a virtual high five at the end of the day for getting through it. I would be really proud of myself and think ‘’heck, should do that all the time’’.

I’d be so productive.

I could start my own business, listen to podcasts on how to take over the world, exercise at 10pm and bake fresh bread for the family every morning.

Why stop there?

The neighbourhood!

And pastries. Yes, I’d need to do pastries too.

That thought lasted until the next morning when I realised I needed a ‘catch up’ sleep in. Then came the realisation that I can only be Super Woman once a month at a push.

And I’m not putting my hand up for it.

So when I fell pregnant (well, I didn’t literally fall...dangerous), I suddenly thought, “oh God, my life as a rested woman is over”. I tried to come to terms with it so by the time Ted rolled into the world

(turns out, the birthing process isn’t quite as simple as ‘rolling out’)

I was ready to be a loving, patient and energetic mother on scraps of sleep.

It’s quite hard to remember the feeling of patience and love when a bread roll of a boy is staring at me through the darkness for the second hour as I hold him, bouncing on a Swiss ball. Made even more fun by the fact he weighs 10kg and I can only touch the floor with my tip toes.

Every. Second. Sucks.

But these long nights were actually not what made me enlist the help of a certain magician.

It was the shit days!

Listening to friends talk about how their baby slept for 3hrs in the morn and again in the afternoon made me want to throw my Swiss ball at their face (but I needed the ball that night so couldn’t risk losing it).

Ted would go to sleep, I’d put the jug on and BING!

Awake!

It was making me crazy and I needed a break which included a cup of coffee, alone.

The Sleep Consultant’s philosophies and tools were an absolute lifesaver.

I sought help to fix those terrible cat napping days but to my surprise, Ted learned to sleep through the night too.

And I’m not ashamed to admit it, but I love him more for it.

I went back to work when Ted was 6 months old and being able to do that with a full night’s sleep was an incredible feeling.

I had so much confidence in his new-found skill that the feeling of dread as I turned out the light disappeared.

I would never have considered starting a new business, Two Spoons Baby Food knowing Ted would need me in the wee hours.

Thankfully I was doing it with my incredible pal, Sarah (aka Dr Sarah. Baby expert and chip off the old block). We were sharing the load but along with that comes the pressure of not letting the team down.

I’m pretty amazed and proud of ourselves to have managed it, and I know I wouldn’t have come close to managing it if I hadn’t had help with Ted’s sleep. And he was ‘normal’! But now he’s incredible.

So now the business is up and running, I’ll get onto those neighborhood bread and pastries.

Sally,