Ways for New Moms to Get More Sleep

Does the expression ‘walking-zombie’ describe you during the first few weeks after the arrival of your newborn? Can you recall a wonderful night where you slept for eight hours until daybreak? New moms would probably not remember any such day in the recent past. Well, most new moms have a sleep deprivation after baby because if the baby wakes up, so are you, meaning you’re on standby all through the night. However, adequate sleep is crucial for your sanity as well as your safety.

Postpartum lack of sleep not only results in a tired body but also influences your thought processes and how you cope with issues. Lack of enough sleep may lead to memory lapses and leave you wondering whether or not you changed your baby’s diaper? For moms, having the patience to deal with a fussy or whiny toddler becomes problematic because of your bad moods. Moreover, other family members also become targets of your tantrums.

Whatever is stopping you from getting enough sleep; there are ways for new moms to meet their sleep quota. Read on.

Sleep When the Baby Sleeps

To avoid postpartum sleep deprivation, you should catch sleep when your newborn sleeps. During a baby’s nap time, take a nap as well. Many new moms choose to do the house chores when the baby is asleep. However, you should know that once the baby wakes up, you should get up as well. Everything else can wait except for the baby. So you should make use of the time that she’s sleeping by catching up on sleep.

Delegate Nighttime Feedings

A good way to get adequate sleep is to hire the services of a confinement nanny to work the night shift on your behalf. It’s easier to let someone else do the feeding especially if you’re using a milk bottle. Alternatively, you can pump breast milk in a bottle so that the nanny can provide relief to the baby at night. Feeding your baby just before bedtime also translates into a good stretch of sleep for the baby. This, in turn, allows you to get adequate rest after your third-trimester sleep deprivation.

Get Help

Most moms can’t take a nap while knowing that the dishes are piling in the sink or the laundry needs to be done. So, they are left to choose between house chores and sleep. To avoid this situation, new moms should accept help from relatives to clean the house and prepare meals for the older kids. Alternatively, a domestic helper or even confinement nanny can be hired to do the house chores during the postpartum period. Then the mother can fall into a deep slumber without any worries.

Self-Settle

There are times when your baby might wake up in the middle of the night. If she whimpers or groans at night, you don’t have to leap out of bed immediately quickly. Your baby has to learn how to sleep throughout the night. To teach your child to fall back to sleep without your intervention in the middle of the night, always place her to bed while she is still conscious. Dropping the strategies such as rocking or nursing that you have been applying to ease her sleep will make her not to depend on these whenever she wakes up in the night.

Create the Mood for Sleep

As tired as you might be, falling asleep on command may not be that easy. A newborn who sleeps erratically can throw off your sleep schedule. When others are sleeping, you may be up all night. When sleep comes, however, you can afford yourself additional help to sleep better. Try out an eye mask, earplugs, or a white noise machine. Ask your spouse to take the baby out for a walk for an hour or so. Having them out of the home will give you peace of mind without worrying about diaper change or breastfeeding. As a result, you can nap peacefully.

The arrival of a baby does not have to mean sleep deprivation for new moms. We hope the tips mentioned above can help you sneak in more sleep than you could ever imagine, and all the best mommies!

You May Also Read this : What a Lack of Sleep Can Do to a New Mother

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  • PEM Confinement Nanny Agency

    We are a group of frontliners and support team members who are passionate about sharing our knowledge and experience in confinement care. Representing the largest confinement nanny agency in Singapore which has served over 250,000 mothers in over 30 years, we are all about sharing useful and insightful information based on our experience to help new parents navigate this exciting chapter of their life better.