Being a new mom is an exhilarating experience. No one can rival the extent of love a mother feels for her new born baby. Once the heady initial days are over, a new mother faces new challenges which she often finds hard to cope with. If you are a young mom, you may know the feeling. The issue most young mothers find hard to deal with is lack of sleep. Your baby chooses to sleep peacefully during the day and decides to wake up exactly when you go to bed. How do you deal with it?
This lack of sleep often dampens the wonderful initial feeling and may make you short tempered and irritable. You may not be able to change your baby’s sleeping pattern, but there are some steps you can take to get more sleep. Don’t let this affect your life.
Take a short nap when your baby does
Your prime responsibility as a young mom is your baby. Your baby is likely to spend most of the day sleeping. When your baby’s sleeping during the day, take a break yourself and enjoy a nap. This will not only help you relax but also make up for some of the sleepless hours of the night.
Plan your day ahead
The most rigidly organized women can become overwhelmed with their responsibilities when they become new moms. The result is in the form of chaotic days and sleepless nights. This will not happen if you prioritize your tasks and follow a schedule. Planning ahead is the key to keep you calm and in control. It’s not just you who needs to follow a schedule but also your baby. With some careful planning (and patience), you can put your baby’s activities in order so that the baby feeds, sleeps, and plays in set times. This may sound impossible to you right now but many successful moms have learned and applied this trick.
Plan your night:
Impossible as it may sound, it can be done if you work toward this goal. If you carefully monitor your baby’s night activities, you will realize that the baby actually follows a routine. This is true for most babies. According to a mother of three, her firstborn would get up exactly at 3:35am crying for a diaper change and sleep again by 4:30am after being changed and feed. Once she realized this, she prepared her mind for this daily routine. Once she accepted this fact, she was able to fall asleep with her baby instead of feeling resentful and irritable.
Get your partner to help you
Remember, your child is not only your responsibility. Divide some of the tasks with your husband. This will not only help relive some of your responsibilities, but also positively affect your relationship.
About the Author
Mike is a dad, but has helped his wife to deal with sleep deprivation and is happy to share his experience. When he is not writing, Mike distributes baby toys and Leapfrog toys
Earnest Parenting: help for tired moms.
Image courtesy of amanky via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.
Hi Mike and Amy,
I remember those days and I am glad they are over. Good advice here. when i was in those shoes I did grap sleep when AI could get it. Baby takes a nap I take a nap.
You do run into a problem with this when you and a 2 or 3 year old around also. that is when dad’s really come in handy.
thanks for sharing and maybe for a grandma I’ll just go grab me a few zzz for now. just joking.
Blessing to you,
Debbie