After nine months of pregnancy and a grueling visit to the doctor, you finally have your bundle of joy in your arms. Most think this is the happiest moment of their lives, but they have no idea what’s to come in the future. Being a parent is hardly all rainbows and unicorns, and you need to get ready to have the daylights knocked out of you by a baby that’s not even the size of your arms right now.
One of the biggest challenges new parents have is managing to get enough sleep when taking care of their baby. This is almost impossible when they need to be fed and changed throughout the night, but there is a way to make sure you don’t turn into a sleep-deprived zombie.
Keep reading to learn about how you can catch up on some sleep with a newborn baby to take care of!
Use the Right Bed
A lot of your sleep quality depends on the mattress you’re using, which is why you need to make sure yours is the right fit. A bad mattress coupled with fatigue from taking care of the baby will wreak havoc on your sleep schedule, and no one wants that.
Health magazine talks about this in their article The 10 Best Mattresses in a Box, According to Rigorous Expert Testing in the following words: “The right bed helps to improve the quality of your sleep, which provides a boost to everything from your attention span to your immune system.”
If you’re sleeping with the right mattress, it’ll be easier for you to fall asleep at night, even after you’ve spent hours staying up with your baby.
Sleep When They Do
Newborn babies might not sleep much at night – if at all – but they do sleep a lot during the day. Try to catch some sleep at the same time they’re sleeping. Don’t worry about your chores and the dishes for a bit – you can do them later – and catch some shut-eye.
This can also work if you have someone helping you take care of the house while you sleep. Even if they can’t or won’t change diapers, they can surely get help to clean up around the house.
Encourage Sleeping at Night
Of course, the baby isn’t going to listen to you yet, so you’ll have to try other ways of making sure they’re encouraged to sleep at night.
Make sure they’re active and kept engaged during the day and that the house is well lit. You don’t feel sleepy in a sunny room, but then when night rolls around, make sure there’s minimal noise and light around the baby so they’re encouraged to catch up then on the sleep they lost during the day.
This way you might get more sound sleep at night.
Don’t Hesitate to Ask for Help
Taking care of yourself or your partner through pregnancy and then taking care of the baby is no small task, and it’s perfectly normal for you to want or need some help through it.
Make sure your partner is up with you to help. This can be easier if the baby isn’t being breastfed, but even if the breastfeeding partner needs to be up through the night, the other can be there to provide support and bring the baby to them and then take them back to their cot.
When family and friends are visiting, don’t care much about social niceties (you’re a new parent, they don’t apply to you anymore) and ask them if they can look after the baby for a while so you can take a nap.
The only way to get through the first few months of having a baby is through the support of your partner and loved ones, as well as some smart thinking on your part. Some parts of your life will take the back seat, but that’s okay as long as your baby stays healthy and happy!
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