Being a Mother is the best and the most beautiful thing in the world. But that doesn’t mean it is easy, as one of the biggest challenges a new mother face is sleepless nights because it is difficult to get babies to sleep. Melanie Darnell, a social media influencer, went viral when she shared her restless kids’ bedtime routine with the world. She filmed her night routine as a result of waking up tired every morning. Melanie couldn’t believe what she saw in the footage the following day. Read on to know her story:
Introducing Melanie Darnell
Melanie Darnell is an Instagram influencer with a page @fitmomma4three that has over 91.4k followers and counting. She describes herself as an “Active Mom of 3” who is dedicated to “Gentle Parenting,” raising a “Vegan Family,” and has a “Daily dose of movement.” She started her motherhood journey way before the sleeping video went viral.
A mother is not a stranger to sharing helpful parenting advice. We are to learn about a shocking revelation from her motherhood journey. Read on to know what happened:
Parenting Difficulties
Darnell, just like other mothers, has the whole mothering thing figured out, but that being said, she also has faced her fair share of ups and downs. After giving birth to her kids, Darnell did a great job of getting back to shape and inspiring her kids to enjoy and love healthy food. Her open and gentle approach to parenting made it clear that she’s a great mother, but there was one aspect of motherhood she struggled with, i.e., putting her kids to sleep.
Feeling worn-out
Followed by the birth of her 3rd child, Darnell could not get over the fact about how many mornings she would wake up feeling exhausted. No matter how early she went to bed or how many hours of sleep she got, Darnell would wake up the next morning feeling more tired than she already was the night before. She could not figure out why she was exhausted because she was getting enough sleep.
Ten Sleepless Months
After almost ten months of sleepless nights, Darnell realized that something wasn’t right and decided to figure out what was causing her sleep issues.
Darnell didn’t realize she was not alone in her struggle and shared on Instagram, “After ten months of waking up every morning feeling more tired than when I headed to bed, I was curious, what is happening.”
Losing Sleep
According to The National Sleep Foundation, most adults need around seven to nine hours of sleep a night. But, According to Sleep Junkie’s survey, parents of children under 18 months get much less sleep. 68% of the people surveyed received 10% of the sleep recommended once they had kids. The surprising bit is that majority of the parents of children under 18 months of children said they slept 5 to 6 hours a night.
What’s even more surprising is that most parents of children under 18 months said they slept between five to six hours a night.
Common Problem
It was a common issue for parents to have sleep deprivation, and Melanie Darnell was no different and was becoming a part of that troop. Even after waking up tired for almost a year, she thought sleep deprivation wasn’t a big deal and was overreacting. She recalled and told on Instagram, “When I roll over and tell my husband, ‘I literally got no sleep last night, was that actually the truth? No, I’m sure I’m being dramatic; it can’t actually be that bad…”
A Better Parent
Later, Darnell concluded that she was not being dramatic and needed to take things into her own hands if she wanted a change. If she wanted to be a better parent, she had to do something more than just get enough sleep.
It makes the day hard to function if you do not get enough sleep. Darnell wanted to get to the root of the problem and was willing to take extreme measures to find out what was causing her sleepless nights.
NEST Cam
Melanie Darnell couldn’t figure out what was causing her sleep troubles, so she turned to high-tech solutions. So, she decided to purchase a NEST Camera to film and figure out what happened during the night. It seemed like an easy plan, but the real shocker was when she watched the time-lapse video the next day. Darnell on Instagram explained, “As a self-science experiment and maybe visual justification for my dramatic statements of ‘literally’ not getting to sleep at night anymore, I duct-taped my NEST cam to the ceiling and let the night play out.”
Tough Balance
Regardless of what the NEST cam would say about her night struggles, one thing for sure was that Darnell would not change her priorities as a parent. It was important for her as a good mother to be a mother during the day and the night because she knew that parenting doesn’t end when the sun goes down.
Darnell explained, “You have two nighttime parenting goals (1) get sufficient rest yourself and (2) meet the nutritional and emotional needs of your child. It’s a tough balance.”
Going Viral
When Darnell saw the time-lapse video, it blew her mind, and she felt that the rest of the world needed to see it. She shared her video on YouTube titled “Why Moms Wake Up Tired | Brutally Honest Overnight Time-Lapse.”
The video went so viral that it got over 9 million views. In 24 hours, the 2-minute video received 800,000 views and 1,800 comments. The question was, why did millions of people watch it?
Harsh Reality
Melanie Darnell’s video became a viral sensation because it captured the harsh reality many mothers can relate to. You can see her twist and turn in her bed while her kids disturb her sleep in the video. She knew she wasn’t the only mother struggling with this issue. She wrote, “Rather than feeling isolated and exhausted, we can feel connected to the other tired mothers that are also awake.”
Tossing and Turning
Darnell’s Youtube video starts with her sleeping on her bed at 10 pm and getting her 10-month-old, Milo, at 11.20 pm to bed. The video showcased how they tossed and turned in the bed as the video progressed. However, she doesn’t seem to mind the disruption.
In the Instagram caption of the viral video, Darnell explained, “In those quiet, dark hours, the lack of distraction can actually [be] quite calming and refreshing. Baby’s needs tend to be simple: to be held and fed.”
Warriors of the night
Milo, Darnell’s 10-month-old child, wasn’t the only one joining her on the bed that sleepless night, but her daughter Olive too, wandered into her bedroom at 1 am while crying and waking up her mother.
The video showcased Darnell’s efforts, doing her best to look after the kids and holding them in her arms. It didn’t take a lot of time to calm Olive, so she went to tuck her back into bed by 1.30 am. After that, she returned to attend to Milo, but did the mother go back to sleep?
Back to Sleep?
After returning to her bedroom, Mellina Darnell tried her best to sleep, and it wasn’t easy. The entire night, Milo kept wiggling in the bed, switching through countless different positions and pulling his mother’s hair at one point.
By 6.20 am, Darnell was wide awake and didn’t need an alarm to wake up and start her day. Milo hit her face with his tiny hands that woke her up. She didn’t take long before getting prepared to start the next adventure – making breakfast for her kids.
Shared Experience
Darnell’s viral video was touching despite it being brutally honest. Although, it was heartwarming to watch her sleep beside Milo and look after him even in sleep.
She is aware that many mothers go through the same thing every night, and that’s why she decided to share her video with the world. Darnell wrote, “During these moments, let’s think of the other parents who are up with their babies at the same middle-of-the-night moment and take comfort in knowing together we share this experience.”
Shared Experience
Darnell’s viral video was touching despite it being brutally honest. Although, it was heartwarming to watch her sleep beside Milo and look after him even in sleep.
She is aware that many mothers go through the same thing every night, and that’s why she decided to share her video with the world. Darnell wrote, “During these moments, let’s think of the other parents who are up with their babies at the same middle-of-the-night moment and take comfort in knowing together we share this experience.”
