Inside: How To Get Quality Rest As a New Parent. Collaborative post.
While a lack of sleep may be a rite of passage for new parents, it can have detrimental effects on both their mental and physical health. Caring for a new baby is a lot of hard work that feels exhausting and neverending. Adjusting to becoming a parent is a daunting task as the needs of the entire household shift.
Although you can’t control how many times your baby wakes up during the night, you can employ some helpful tips and advice to improve the quality and extend the time you sleep while caring for your newborn. Choosing adequate bed sizes and utilizing good sleep hygiene makes it possible to get the proper sleep you desperately need.
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Incorporate Relaxing Activities
You may feel like you have a million things to do during the day and very little time to do it, but many new parents underestimate how much their daily activities and chores can affect their sleep quality at night.
Incorporating small but enjoyable activities into your day, like taking a walk around the block, having a relaxing bath, or talking to a friend on the phone, can aid in lowering any stress hormones you may be dealing with, ultimately leading to a more restful night’s sleep.
Split Night-Time Duties
If one parent typically takes over the nighttime feeding duties, it may be worthwhile constructing a new schedule that shares the tasks more evenly. If your baby is bottle-fed, both parents can take over the feeding duties during the night. Many health experts suggest allowing mothers to sleep at least five continuous hours for the first half of the night to aid their mental and physical health. For breastfed babies, fathers can fetch the baby, change diapers, and allow moms to sideline feed from their beds before returning the baby to bed once they have finished eating. This minimizes disruptions to new mom’s sleep routines in the early weeks or months.
If you are not in a position to share duties with the other parent, don’t be afraid to ask for help from family and close friends. New parents have an endless laundry list of tasks and chores that need to be completed around caring for a newborn. And if you are not properly caring for yourself, you will find it harder to care for your baby. Reach out to trusted loved ones or hire a night nurse or postpartum doula who can assist you with household chores and childminding duties when you need to take time for yourself.
Change Crib Position
Placing your baby’s crib or bassinet alongside the bed makes it easier to attend to them when needed and go straight back to sleep, often leading to a better night’s sleep. For many new parents, co-sleeping may seem like a tempting compromise to squeeze in as many sleeping hours as possible.
However, many health practitioners and experts warn against this, as the risk of accidentally suffocating your baby is increased significantly.
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Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine
By the time the evening rolls around, the last thing you may feel like doing is a proper evening routine before bed. When time is scarce, adding something new to your routine can feel stressful and overwhelming. However, expert sleep consultants suggest dedicating more time and care to your bedtime routine, as the payoff can carry significant advantages.
Unwind with a hot and relaxing shower or bath, which will help to soothe your muscles and mind after a busy and often stressful day. If you are someone who feels overwhelmed before bed, take 5-10 minutes to journal your thoughts and feelings from the day. It is a fantastic way to declutter your mind and allows you to reflect on any worries, concerns, or accomplishments you may have had.
Avoid Screen Time Before Bed
Many sleep experts recommended that everyone should avoid using devices like phones, iPads, computers, and televisions before bed, as the bright light emitted from them causes our brains to be overstimulated, making it more difficult to fall asleep.
For new parents, especially new moms, bedtime may be the first opportunity they have to sit down and look through their social media or watch an episode of their favorite series. However, if you lack proper sleep, it is best to turn these devices off at least an hour before bed and instead read a book or flip through a magazine. These activities help your brain to slow down and prepare for sleep.
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Help Your Baby Sleep
Starting at around three months, many babies begin to sleep for longer stretches of time during the night, anywhere from 4-6 hours. While these numbers do differ from infant to infant, by 6-12 months, nearly two-thirds of babies are sleeping almost a full night.
To help your little one develop healthy sleeping habits, it is recommended that you put your baby down for the night as soon as they begin to get drowsy. Some experts recommend avoiding rocking a baby to sleep, as it will become a habit that may be hard to break down the line. However, this is a personal choice; parents should choose what they prefer.
Furthermore, babies need to learn how to fall asleep in their beds independently, so allowing them to self-soothe is another essential step to regaining a more steady sleeping habit for you and your infant. By learning how to comfort themselves during the night, they are able to fall back to sleep without assistance, creating less disruption for you and themselves.