First-time parents get a challenge of sleep deprivation due to their bundle of joy. Babies wails at night interrupt your previous sleep pattern and sleep cycle. Before the fourth month where most of them can get straight six hours of sleep. It feels as if you will never enjoy any beautyrest. This is so for your infants sleep patterns as they get accustomed to their new environment. Do not panic if you are not getting satisfying sleep for worrying may lead to some fatal conditions such as postpartum depression which may occur unknowingly. Although some sleep rituals aid to assist you to fall asleep at night after an interrupted sleep cycle. It is important to factor in your babies sleep routine too. Some of the following approaches can assist to improve the value of your sleep. (Image Credit: Stephanie Pratt/Pixabay)
Download Baby Sleep Tracking App
If you are a new parent, one of the most important things that you need to do is track your baby’s sleep. There are many different sleep tracking apps available on the market, but which one is the best for you and your child? Here we are going to recommend a baby sleep tracking app called Baby Sleep Magic. This app allows parents to track their baby’s sleep habits and see how much sleep they’re getting each night. It also has a built-in alarm system that will wake up the baby if he or she doesn’t get enough rest.
Switch off the monitor
Baby monitors are convenient to signal you when your baby wakes up. However, sometimes they may send false signals and as a parent, you leap off to check their room. Switching off the monitor and having the baby close to your room will help you not interrupt your sleep. This much is because infants are active sleepers and when they whimper in the night slightly the monitor signals you because of the volume as a wake-up or discomfort cry. Consequently, making you wake up numerous times at night to a sound asleep baby with your sleep interrupted. When the baby gets to half a year, train them to sleep on their own without soothing and weaning for they sleep for a stretch of hours.
Try shifts
As a first time parent, since you both are learning on the job. Schedule some shifts to assist your partner in taking care of the baby. This can be done in a number of ways and guarantee quality sleep to each partner at different intervals. Shift between some of the baby duties, for instance, one can take feeding times as the other sleep, or shift with one to do morning time to half day and the other takes the other half. If one parent is working they can consider taking the morning hours to assist with the baby prior to going to work. It depends however on the parents and the shift that will work for them and the lifestyle they have.
Sync the sleep time
For as many newborn babies have unpredictable sleep patterns. Syncing your sleeping time to theirs is a good way to catch some sleep and wake up rested and alert. Higher percentages of REM sleep are found in babies by three months 80% of their sleep is in REM unlike yours that has just 30% in REM. Additionally, their sleeping cycles run up to 50 minutes while an adult is at 90 minutes. Consequently, your child wakes up more frequently and with ease and this routine they have goes on around the clock. It is important to adjust to these schedules by preparing yourself mentally and sleeping when they sleep.
Co-sleeping
This is a debatable idea among many parents, because of many factors such as the fear of sleeping on the baby in case you oversleep or discomfort among the parents due to limited space. There are advantages and disadvantages to this practice and some negative factors that may hinder or support bed sharing with your infant. Therefore, decide as a couple and discuss with your doula if you have one how you can go about this.
Get help
It does not mean you are a bad parent when you ask or your offered help. It is actually advisable in the first three months of your baby’s life. Help can be offered by friends, family members or a nanny. Due to the number of awakenings of a child at night, you will be fatigued most of the time and getting help during the day for a peaceful and restful sleep will give you a boost in your energy. As you make up for lost sleep especially during the weekends. Make sure you do not oversleep for it creates a new level of deprivation making you sleepless at night due to long sleeping hours during the day. Exhaustion brought about by taking care of a newborn can result in stress-related issues especially to the mother.