Is he sleeping through for you? Is he in his own room? Is he a good sleeper? I swear I hear these questions on a daily basis! (and by the way the answer is no! and yes! We co-sleep, he sleeps, we sleep, but it isn’t always great!) Here’s the secret…most babies don’t sleep through and that is completely normal! So most parents will have to deal with some aspect of sleep deprivation due to newborn sleep patterns or newborn sleep regression, so todays guest post is coming from Vicki of Tippytupps and she’s talking all about her top tips for dealing with seep deprivation.
Hi – I’m Vicki from over at Tippytupps: a parenting and lifestyle blog following me, my beautiful son, amazing daughter, gorgeous son, amazing husband and crazy cat through our lives as we try and juggle everything that makes up the world of us!
We’ve all been there: you have a new baby, you’re exhausted and the baby wakes … again! You know you need to go to them but you’re tired, so very very tired and as much as you desperately want to stay awake – it’s just so HARD!
So here we are, a practical survival guide of trying your best to just stay awake when every fibre of your being is desperate for some shut eye!
- Find somewhere to feed that isn’t too comfortable – it’s too easy to drift off when holding a new baby so although it’s tempting to add a cushion or a blanket, don’t! If you are truly unable to keep yourself awake, then consider co-sleeping – if you can do so safely then this has the optimum chance of sleep. The NCT guidelines are a good source of information.
- Use your phone – embrace the time and read a book, watch a film or use mummy groups on social media for some middle of the night company. Concentrating on something else will help keep you awake, plus it’s a great time to get in some serious binge watching!
- Stay hydrated – if you’re up in the night then the likelihood is that you’re going to get hungry so keep a drink and some snacks handy to keep you going!! Drinking and eating again gives you something to concentrate on.
- Look at your baby – it’s so easy to lose it when you’re exhausted so gaze into that little face to remind yourself why you’re doing it.
- Know it’s only temporary – they’re tiny for such a short space of time, and although it may not feel like it right now I promise that this is just a phase and it will end. Once it’s gone you’ll miss their squishiness and newborn snuggles.
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Great tips! I especially like the first one on making sure you don’t get too comfy x