How to Sleep with a Newborn

How to Sleep with a Newborn

As a new mom there are many different emotions that you are experiencing happiness, anger, excitement, anxiety, sadness, or feeling relieved. While all of these are totally normal as a new mom and expected it’s important to remember that you will find yourself sleepy.

Frequent wake ups in the middle of the night can add up to exhaustion and being sleep deprived. Not getting the proper sleep can actually have very negative affects on the body. It can affect decision-making, raise blood pressure, cause mood swings, and even allow your body to gain weight.

Here are the top 8 ways that can help you get sleep with a newborn:

  1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help: Becoming a new mom can be overwhelming. Don’t try to take on everything on your own. Ask the people that you are close with to help you. Whether it’s cooking a meal, helping with laundry, or watching the baby while you shower…take care of yourself as well.
  2. Sleep when the baby sleeps: A newborn baby can sleep up to 16 hours but it’s on and off and it’s throughout the day. A good way to catch up on sleep is to sleep whenever your baby does. If you can’t make yourself fall asleep don’t stress about it but relax and find something that is calm to do.
  3. It’s okay to say no: It’s  normal for everyone in your life to reach out and want to stop by to see the new baby. But this can make things very busy for you and your baby. If someone is offering to come visit and help you in anyway don’t be afraid to invite them over.
  4. Night time feeding help: Whether you are breastfeeding or not have someone close to you help with feeding at night and switch off.
  5. Don’t stretch yourself too thin: Being a new mom comes with a lot of new responsibility so do not take a bunch of new tasks on and stress yourself out to please others around you.
  6. Go to bed early: New moms on average will have to wake up 2-3 times a night. Try and go to bed around 8:30. Studies have shown that babies have a happier life going to bed early and moms have a healthier mental state.
  7. Get in a routine: Whatever helps you relax whether it’s listening to calm music, using essential oils in your diffuser, taking a shower or turning all the screens off. Get into a routine that works for you and allows you to get ready for bed the right way.
  8. Be comfortable while you sleep: Try not to sleep with any lights or noise on. Dark and quiet rooms tend to allow the body to get the proper rest that it needs. Make sure you have good support and the proper mattress to sleep on as well.

Having good sleep is essential for everyone but is a dream for new moms. Do what you can to help the process easier.