It was my first “kind of vacation” with my 1.4 yo daughter. As always, I had some unrealistic expectations, such as I am lying on the warm towel on the sand and she is playing with her toys near me, I just need to watch her. Ahahaha. Every time we came to the beach, I hardly had five seconds to put a sun guard cream. There were days I forgot to take my t-shirt, running after her all the time. To rest? I knew it was unrealistic and I was right. But my biggest fear was flight. So, now when we survived our flights, I want to share several useful tips.

Did you hear about those moms, whose children sleep well? In a stroller, in a car seat, in a bed?  When can you take them to the mall and sit with a big cup of coffee or even a small shopping? Or take them to park and enjoy reading your favorite book in peace and quietness? I have heard about them. Moreover, I am familiar with such moms and I envy them so much because I was not so lucky. Frankly speaking, I was not lucky at all in everything related to my baby’s sleep.  From the day one, we have struggled for every additional minute of sleep. Sleeping became a central issue of our first year. I have tried so many things, got so many pieces of advice, read so many articles but very few of them were really helpful. Therefore, I want to share some stuff that worked hoping it will save your time and help you to get through.

I love books more than anything in the world. I think reading is the most powerful tool to enrich a general knowledge about our world and to develop our imagination. Reading with your toddler encourages language development, enlarging your toddler vocabulary and gives them an understanding of language sounds and constructions. According to studies, toddlers who have been read to, have more educational and social advantages over they peers.The more books are woven in children life, the more they will see reading as a pleasure and a gift.

There are days we are playing a lot with my one-year-old baby, reading a lot, singing, dancing and learning new words and colors. However, there are days we do not do anything. We just spend our day together, eating sleeping and going for a walk. In such day I could not stop thinking that although we had fun together, it was an absolutely useless day –  I did not do anything useful for my baby, I did not DEVELOP her.  I am constantly asking other moms about development games, development toys, and development books and so on. Then, I stopped for once and asked myself, what do I want to develop in my child? What is really important to cultivate? To help her with?

I am a regular first-time mom. I am not a doctor; I do not have any medical background either.  And if my baby does not feel well I, like a million other moms, call my pediatrician. I am fond of our pediatrician; she is very experienced and professional doctor as well as nice a very polite woman. Since it is your child health, it is very important to find a doctor who you will trust and feel comfortable with.

When I was pregnant, I had some hmm… let me say, unrealistic expectations. I thought my baby will sleep three times a day for 1-2 hours each time in her white beautiful crib and when awake, will eat and smile, and play, and well…will be a little perfect angel and a very comfortable baby.

The only one expectation became one hundred percent real: she was really a little perfect angel. And the rest were just expectations.