On March 1, 2021, one netizen uploaded a video of a mom sleeping with her toddler on Reddit, a popular social media site for funny videos. It received over 91,000 upvotes and over 4,000 comments from parents who expressed their love and respect for a mother who was just trying to get some rest.
The viral video entitled "What it's like sleeping with a baby" begins quietly, with the mother having half of the bed to herself and the toddler flailing on her side of the bed adorably. However, things quickly changed when the toddler leaped for her mother's head.
In the viral video, the poor mother's head seems like a magnet, and her child is a metaphorical piece of metal. The toddler still follows her everywhere she goes, and she ends up trying to sleep for nearly two minutes with another person practically sprawled across her face.
The mom sleeping with her toddler achieves some separation in the viral video after a huge effort, only to be subjected to multiple toddler-kicks to the head until her entire head is once again used as a mini mattress.
After nearly 17 minutes of tussling, the two seem to have reached an unspoken agreement, with the toddler only using their mother's neck as a pillow rather than their entire head.
Yet, every parent understands that parenting is fundamentally about compromise and that even a bad night's sleep is preferable to none at all when it comes to sleep.
What it's like sleeping with a baby from r/funny
When sleeping with your toddler, how can you avoid ending up like the mom in the viral video?
Having a toddler is full of happiness, hard work, celebration, and, unfortunately, sleeplessness. That is because there will always be hiccups, fuzzy, red-eyed nights, and a must for coffee no matter how many sleep books one reads or how meticulous a parent is with sleep training.
Luckily, you are not alone. There is plenty of helpful advice from experts to help you get through difficult times. Here are some curated life cheats for a mom sleeping with her toddler.
- Turn off all screens and blue lights. Toddlers are watching TV and can play with gadgets already. Those screens and blue lights like humidifiers disrupt their sleep, so turn off those lights.
- Block out all light. Clampdown curtains are necessary baby sleep gear. Look for more light leakage in your room, like glowing power strips before you put down your toddler and call it a day. Cover it up with electric tape. It is a little paranoia, but this is your sleep we're talking about.
- Toddlers thrive on routine, do so. Come up with one, especially around sleep and naps, and stick to it. Your life may be a little more tedious, but it will also be healthier and better off for it.
- Your toddlers are not bored as developmental growth occurs so fast in their stage that routines will be disrupted due to events like sleep regression and toothaches, and you'll have to deal with it. It happens. Work to get back to your boring life. It won't seem so dull after.
- Check your room temperature. Avoid being tempted to crank up the heat and get your toddler all warm. A child's room should be around 68 degrees. For a mom sleeping with her toddler, don't overheat.
READ MORE: Viral Video: High School Principal's Parody Aims to Help Students Cope with the Coronavirus Pandemic
