Are you ready for the lack of sleep that comes with a newborn? The goal of this post is to give helpful tips to new moms to prepare for the first few weeks after a baby is born, both mentally as well as physically! Being prepared mentally can help you in the long-run to successfully cope with newborn sleep deprivation.
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10 Must-Read Tips to Deal with Newborn Sleep Deprivation
Getting sleep with a newborn? Is it even possible?
If you were like me, you pulled a few late nights in school. Maybe you never pulled the full all nighter – but you were up super late and up super early to get to class or work the next morning. When I became a new mom, I thought I knew what sleep deprivation was. NOT TRUE.
Has anyone ever heard the phrase, “(S)he sleeps like a baby.”? This phrase is often used to mean that the person sleeps without hearing anything or waking up to anything. What a joke!
While I wouldn’t say GOOD sleep is possible, you will get SOME. There are so many factors that will go into it though: baby temperament, your spouse’s ability to help, colic, postpartum issues, breastfeeding issues, etc. That being said, there are still a FEW things you can control in order to get MORE sleep.
Let’s talk about managing expectations for those first few weeks and some helplful tips!
How should babies sleep?
Babies, especially newborns, wake up all the time. Like seriously all the time. I think they should change the joke to “(S)he sleeps like a husband.” Hehe. I crack myself up. That’s just a joke… my husband has always been super helpful at night (even if I had to poke him to wake him up).
It is recommended by the CDC for a healthy, safe sleep environment, that newborn babies:
- be put to sleep on their backs in a safe crib in your room with a firm mattress
- that they not be too warm at night (which is why we love these swaddles and THIS awesome attachment to the crib to keep baby cool in the summer!)
- that you keep soft toys, bumpers, etc. out of the bassinet that might cover your baby’s head
- do not cosleep and risk laying baby in your soft bed with too many blankets (If you want baby close-by, I absolutely love this bassinet that goes RIGHT up next to the bed so I can stare at my sleeping baby all night instead of sleeping 😉 but seriously, that bassinet is super popular and super easy to reach your newborn in the middle of the night!)
Related Post: 5 Quick and & Newborn Sleep Tips from Experienced Moms
How often do newborns wake-up at night?
The first few days/weeks/months you will be exhausted because baby will wake-up every 2-3 hours (or more often!) during the day and at night. And sometimes initially, they have day and night confused! This is why I definitely recommend you follow the steps below to maximize your sleep as much as possible.
By the way, if your baby is 4+ months old, these are the common reasons babies keeps waking up at night.
How often do newborns eat at night?
Newborn eat every 1.5 to 3 hours (which does depend on breastfeeding or formula feeding). Start the clock when the baby STARTS eating.
If your baby starts eating at midnight and eats for an HOUR, then the little one will likely be up again either at 2 a. m. or 3 a. m. Better keep those headphones around to watch some Netflix in the middle of the night.
Really, this truth probably isn’t a suprise to any of you. Your little one is growing after all, and they want your comfort! Their bellies are tiny and can’t take a ton of milk at a time, so they will need to eat often, including through the night.
And with all that eating comes lots of diaper changes (like 300 diapers in the first month a lot). All of these things combined cause your sleep to be interrupted.
How much sleep will you get per night as a new parent?
You will likely not experience 5 hours straight of sleep for several months. Maybe, if you’re lucky… it will be a fluke though! 8 hours is definitely a stretch.
And the first time it happens to you, you will likely JOLT awake thinking something is wrong.
So that being said, until the lovely full night of sleep happens, here are some tips for dealing with newborn sleep deprivation!
10 Helpful Sleep Tips to deal with newborn sleep deprivation:
Sleep is vitally important from the weeist of infants to the wisests of grandparents, yet most of us don’t get enough sleep as it is. Adults should get a recommended 7 hours of sleep at night (and I can guarantee you, you won’t get this much sleep with a newborn!).
But it’s all about managing the marathon, not the sprint! So, here are tips to get more sleep with a newborn:
1. Ask your spouse to help with diaper changes at night (every minute of sleep counts)
My husband is seriously a saint! When dealing with postpartum recovery, it is already difficult to get out of bed! Ask your spouse or partner to help with diaper changes.
2. Make-up for lost sleep.
Take a nap when you can. Or try to get longer stretches of sleep every few nights (see tips below) to help with that!
3. Ask someone to take a night-shift feeding
If you are formula feeding, ask someone to take a shift in the middle of the night. Hopefully, your spouse is able to have several weeks off during this time, so their lack of sleep won’t effect their work performance.
If you are breastfeeding and have a pump, occasionally ask someone to take a nighttime feeding. Although, if you are going back to work, I wouldn’t recommend this very often.
Related Article: Breastfeeding Tips: 5 Ways to Successfully Pump at Work
4. Set-up a Meal Train & Order Take-out
Dealing with sleep deprivation is all about taking as much off your plate as possible. This literally means FOOD. Minimize the amount of cooking you are required to do during those first few vital weeks.
- See if a friend or family member would be willing to bring you a meal. You can get it organized with a website like mealtrain.com.
- When you DO cook, make double the amount so you can freeze the rest for easy leftovers.
- Order take-out from some of your favorite restaurants
- Pre-make freezer meals that are easy to throw in the crock-pot.
With a little planning, you can make life easier in the long-run!
5. If a friend asks how you’re doing, and if you need some help, say yes!
Tell them you’d like some laundry done or someone to help with housework. Don’t be afraid to say you need something.
If you don’t have family close-by, I’m sure a trusted friend would LOVE to come snuggle the baby so you could get a quick shower in and a power nap.
6. Don’t try to be extra productive.
When I worked full-time, I had ALLLLL the plans for maternity leave. I was going to be super productive and tackle all the projects I never seemed to have time for.
Right after having a baby is NOT the time to try and be extra productive. If you can find pockets of time, GREAT! But don’t try to push yourself too hard.
7. Teach your spouse or parents the best way to swaddle your baby…again, every few minutes of sleep count.
This one was HUGE for me. My husband was great at swaddling our babies, and this helped a ton when it was hard physically to get out of bed.
8. Begin to train your baby as much as possible to sleep more at night than during the day.
Make sure baby sleeps in a room with some sunlight coming through the window during nap time. Make sure the room is nice and dark at night so baby can start learning the difference between night and day.
9. Turn down that baby monitor!
I was SO sensitive to sounds those first few months of becoming a new mom. Was that a squeak? Was that a cry? I didn’t want my baby to go any amount of time waiting for me, and I would often JUMP up at the tiniest sound (even if it was just the A/C turning on).
This did NOT make for good sleep!
If you’ve already moved your baby to their own room, turn down the monitor to the lowest volume sound to minimize it waking you up due to the fan blowing in the other room!
10. Sleep when the baby sleeps. But seriously. Do it. Other things can wait!
The Last Thing You Should Know About Dealing with Newborn Sleep Deprivation
Remember, parenting is a marathon, not a sprint! You have to find a pace that works for you. Each day might look a little different with a few ups and downs, but eventually the pendulum stop swinging so quickly, and you’ll find what works for you and your family!
How to get a newborn to sleep more at night
- Invest in the best white noise machine. Help your baby sleep longer.
- Swaddle your baby with a muslin swaddle. Babies love swaddled. Because it helps limit the Moro startle reflex!
- Put them down for naps in a brightly lit room. We like to have the baby nap in their crib in their room when they are little so they get used to sleeping in there early.
- Don’t swing for sleep! Don’t use a swing to let them sleep during long periods of time during the day.
- Put your baby to sleep with a pacifier (we love the ones from the hospital!)
- Start a bedtime routine early. Think bath, baby massage, food, talk softly, bed.
- Follow the E.A.S.Y. Newborn Daytime Schedule
- Be patient! There are several different sleep regressions your baby will go through. Personally, I saw some consistency at 8 weeks old, but the 4 month and 9 month sleep regressions are big milestones for your baby!