Sleep when your baby sleeps
A bath before bedtime will relax the baby
Turn off the phone ringer and let the machine take the calls
Taking care of a newborn is hard work. Without question, the biggest challenge for parents of newborns is to get enough sleep in the first few months. As difficult as it might be, it is possible to get the sleep you so desperately need. How? Just stay calm, follow a routine and set some rules. They will make everybody’s life easier, but they will also help your baby feel more secure. Read this article to find out more.
- The golden rule is to sleep when your baby sleeps.
Don’t worry about the dishes in the sink, or the dirty laundry. Housework can wait until later.
- If you don’t have an answering machine, buy one. When you and your baby want to sleep, turn off the phone ringer and let the machine take the calls. Who ever is calling can wait until you have time and feel like calling them back.
- Unless you are expecting someone, put a sign on your door to let visitors know that you and your baby are resting and don’t want to be disturbed. People will understand your need for sleep and will come back later.
- If relatives, friends, or neighbours offer help, accept it; let them do your shopping, cook a meal, or do the laundry for you while you take a nap with your baby.
- A warm bath before bedtime will relax both you and the baby, so take a bath with your baby; it will help you both sleep better.
- If possible, take your baby in bed with you, or put the baby’s crib near your bed so you don’t have to get up to check on the baby every time he/she cries. If you do take your baby in bed with you, dressed him/her lighter than you would if he/she slept alone; your body heat will keep him/her warm.
- When you get up to feed the baby during the night, don’t turn on any lights and make sure there is absolute silence in the room; your baby will learn that night feeding is not the time for playing.
- Because mother’s milk is digested easily and very fast, if you breast-feed your baby he/she will need to eat more than once during the night. For this reason, nurse your baby lying on your side so you can snooze while the baby is feeding.
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- When your baby keeps you up the whole night and you feel you can’t cope anymore, repeat to yourself ‘this will not last for ever’; your baby will settle in a routine after the first few months and things will get easier.
