I felt the same pressure early on, the whole sleep issue dominated everything. I was almost constant in my search for a solution. I had my ups and downs, at any time though DD was not sleeping according to some "experts" ideals, she still does not "sleep through" all the time, but at least now she goes down much easier at night.

Some here will know that I really tried and struggled to set-up a working night-time ritual, I was fine with feeding to sleep, I just need it to happen with an hour, rather than taking hours. Little did I know then that nothing was going to work whilst I was ingesting certain additives, I was so concerned about caffeine that I ignored other sleep inhibitors such as colourings and preservatives. Now they have been reduced, things have improved and all that effort I put into sleep rituals is working.

I do feel very sad and angry at myself though for all that pain and struggles we went through for over a year. Before I even had a real chance to be a parent, a visiting MCHN, who whilst very supportive for breastfeeding, was not so supportive with sleep, gave me a list of sleep school numbers and told me to call in now (DD was less than 2 weeks old) and get an appointment. As far as I was aware I was just having a hell of a time breastfeeding, not having sleep problems. What a way to shatter a new parents confidence in themselves.

Most of the focus on sleep it seems is about how we should parent to a formula, rather than on the individuality of the child and their needs. Some need less sleep, some more sleep, some more food over night, some less additives, some just need to be close to a warm body.