is "just getting by" good enough?

There have been times when I've been "just getting by" as a parent.  Like the week this summer, when I put my daughter through "big girl boot camp" (lost the paci, crib, diapers, and learned how to swim) while my husband was on vacation.  Needless to say, it was too much.

She wasn't sleeping.  She wasn't eating.  She wasn't smiling.  We were in rough waters.

I realized during this incredibly difficult time that never before had I experienced such sleeplessness, such anxiety.  Neither had Mia.  Because we sleep-trained from the very beginning of her life, we never had to experience what many new parents go through--the crying it out, the late night call to the peditrician, the inability to fall sleep even when you can because you're so scared the other shoe is going to drop.

So, the question is:  is "just getting by" good enough? 

This attitude of complacency--that new parents just have to deal with the unpredictablity of a newborn, and put their lives on hold until the storm passes--is inconceivable to me. 

Research shows that not only does sleep deprivation impact the adult negatively, but it has a  tremendously detrimental impact on the baby's development, short and long term:

• cognitively
• behaviorally
• emotionally

I wonder if we dropped this attitude of complacency, how much better life would be?  I believe that parents need to take charge of their little ones' sleep patterns.  In so many areas of parenting, we are powerless, but not in this one.


No, it's not easy.  Sleep training does demand resolve and determination, but it is worth it.  Ask anyone who's successfully accomplished getting their baby into a routine--it is worth it. 

And, no, "just getting by" is not good enough.  Not for me, not for you.