Useful tips to help new moms sleep
Motherhood is a delicate and emotional period. New moms are often overwhelmed by pressure. Here are some tips to help you sleep.
1) Lie down, even if you can’t sleep.
- Get off your feet, relax on the couch, and stay off the phone,”
- Don’t stress if you can’t fall asleep. “Just lying down for a half hour can be very restorative.
2) Get help for nighttime feedings.
- One of the best ways to get a solid stretch of sleep is to have your husband or friend work the night shift for you.
- It’s easier to turn feedings over to someone else if you’re bottle feeding, but moms who are breastfeeding can introduce a bottle of breast milk early on so that someone else can provide relief in the middle of the night.
- Your partner can use a bottle of expressed milk to feed the baby around 10.Afterward your partner can go to bed and you can get up for the 2 to 4 feeding.
3) Keep baby close.
- Another idea for nursing moms is to get a bassinet that attaches to the bed or sits next to it.
4) Be choosy about guests.
- There are helpful visitors (mothers-in-law who make meatloaf and change diapers), and aggravating visitors (coworkers who just want to gossip).
5) Don’t rely on coffee.
- Although gulping down a cup of coffee first thing in the morning can give you the jolt you need to be alert, too much intake can mask your need for sleep, and may actually prevent you from falling asleep when you finally lie down.
6) Take Naps
- A new baby will sleep 16 to 17 hours a day for a maximum of 4 to 5 hours at a time, pediatricians say.
- It is usually advised to sleep when the baby sleeps.
- However, baby’s naptime isn’t the only possible time to relax and have a good rest.
- Get a bouncy seat and a baby carrier so you can be productive when baby’s up, and her naptime can be just ideal for you.
7) Follow your body’s natural rhythms
- When deciding who’s going to get up with the baby at night, keep in mind your natural programming.
- Your body is hormonally programmed to wake up at the least little gurgle, and the hormone prolactin causes your breasts to fill up and get uncomfortable just about the time the baby gets hungry.
- That doesn’t mean you have to be on call 24/7, but it’s something you need to factor into your decision.
