Some thoughts on mothers

Introducing a sleep schedule into the lives of little ones can be a time- and energy-consuming task. I've never had a client tell me it wasn't worth doing, but they all stressed that it took a lot of work and discipline to achieve fantastic results.

But once children settle into a simple, predictable nap schedule and sleep through the night, parents sometimes find that a new problem arises.

They hesitate to deviate in any way from the routine they are used to.

This is perfectly understandable. After all, they are recovering from a terrible situation where neither they nor their babies sleep for months at a time, and then they switch to a completely opposite scenario where mother and baby get lots of rest and sleep, and this transition happens in practically a matter of weeks.

This is a big improvement in the quality of life for the whole family, and parents - especially mothers - are genuinely terrified of disturbing this new idyllic state of affairs in any way.

But as a parent of a small baby who sleeps wonderfully three times a night and three times a day, how are you supposed to manage your daily routine?

And I'm not talking about "when should we go out with the girls for a girls' night out", but something like, when should you, say, go shopping? Yes, this can often be a challenge for mothers, especially if they are home alone with the little one while daddy is at work.

After all, if you follow a strict sleep schedule for a baby of a few months, and it works well, you have about an hour or so left when you can presumably get to the grocery store. Or to the dentist or hairdresser. Or just to do a basic task that takes more than an hour.

For these occasions I would recommend the following:

First of all, it's worth waiting until the daytime sleeps have settled in nicely and a good sleep routine is established during the day. I would wait for about 2 weeks, then you can safely make 1 or 2 changes to your daily routine, the world won't collapse.

How often can you deviate from your sleep plan? I would suggest sticking to the plan for 4 out of 5 days, one day of change will not upset everything. However, be careful not to do something like sticking to the plan for 12 days and then deciding to break it up for 3 consecutive days, otherwise you can expect a really nasty setback.

If a programme means that you have to miss a nap during the day, you can replace it with a pushchair or car ride, but it's always worth keeping the morning nap if you have to miss one.

If, for example, you are travelling and it turns out that you have to put your baby to sleep in the car, do everything you can to make the sleep as long as possible. Even drive a few extra laps in the car, but let your baby sleep until he wakes up on his own. Of course, only if it's feasible.

Trying to put the baby to bed in the middle of sleep is not recommended at all. It is better to leave the baby to sleep where he has fallen asleep, because putting him to bed usually always leads to disaster in the end.

If your baby wakes up before he or she is really asleep, it's not worth trying to force him or her to sleep - wait at least an hour before trying to put him or her to sleep again. It can happen, don't despair.

Most importantly, feel free to ask for help for the time you need to take care of something important. It's best if your little one falls asleep in his or her own bed, and you hand over the supervision to grandparents or a family friend. You will have plenty of opportunities to repay this favour.