Image via Wikipedia
Unfortunately, most babies are not born with the ability to sleep through an entire night. However, there are ways to ensure that you will get enough sleep to remain functional when your baby is awake.
- Try sleeping when they do. Many new parents find that it is easier to sleep when their newborn does, instead of trying to uphold their previously normal sleep schedule. Frequent cat naps are a great way to rejuvenate the spirit and make it easier to deal with stress – which is an added bonus of getting some shut eye while the baby sleeps.
- Alternate sleep shifts with a partner. If you have a spouse or partner in the house, then you should consider taking turns staying awake with the baby. This will even out the new responsibilities and make it a lot easier to for everyone to get the sleep that they need. If you don’t have anyone living with you that can share the responsibility, you can always ask a close family member or friend to stay with you for a couple of weeks.
- Seek advice from other parents. One of the best ways to learn how to cope with a new baby that doesn’t sleep is to simply ask other parents how they do it. Reading trusted authorities on the subject of parenting is another great resource for the new parent, and Moontomars.org is a great place to start.
Even though it may seem like an impossible task right now, you will eventually get a good night’s sleep again. Just be patient and learn to go with the flow until both you and your newborn adjust to each other.
