Moms Need Sleep Too
As a mom, there’s a lot of focus on getting your baby to sleeping well and with good reason. Sleep is important for growth and development, but it’s also important for healing, keeping your energy up, and warding off ‘mom brain’. Sleep is just as important for you as it is for your precious baby. Read the following tips to learn how to effectively ‘sleep like a baby’.
Just the Right Amount
We’ve all heard the magical number eight when it comes to the number of hours of sleep we should be getting each night, but that may not be true for everyone. Some people just need more, like new moms, and some people do better with less. Generally speaking, adults should get no less than six hours of sleep per night and no more than 11. Doesn’t that sound nice? Eleven hours of sleep, but let’s be realistic here, no baby is going to let that happen. So in the end, you should aim for somewhere in that seven to nine hour range in order to let your body recharge and recuperate.
There’s Not Enough Hours in the Day, or is There?
That all sounds fine, but exactly how are you supposed to get that done when you’re juggling a baby, maybe some older children, work, and the house? In order to deal with any of those things, you’re going to need to get some sleep, so make sleep one of your top priorities. If you simply can’t increase your hours, then increase the quality of your sleep. Here’s how:
- Wind down during the last hour before bed. Once the kids are safely tucked away, take some time for yourself and your partner to just relax, read, and talk. As tempting as it may be, don’t use this time to do household chores. The laundry and dishes can wait. Also, try to avoid TV or other screens, paying bills, or anything else that will get your mind going. You also don’t want to use this time to eat a big meal. Take care of that with your children and only eat a small snack before bed if you need a little extra. Large meals right before bed can have you up all night with heart burn or other digestive issues.
- Follow your baby’s bedtime routine. If a warm bath and reading works for your baby, why won’t it work for you?
- White noise. Use a white noise machine in your baby’s room. White noise can not only make her sleep better but it has the added benefit of covering up those little sleeping noises that she makes that wake you up.
- This one can be achieved in different ways. The legs-up-the-wall pose can help you control your breathing, increase blood flow to your brain, and destress your body all in 10-20 minutes a day. You can also try different forms of mediation. If you need help with this one, try out a mediation podcast to help get your mind in the right place for sleeping. Finally, try writing down everything that’s on your mind that’s bothering you. For example, write down your to-dos for tomorrow, ideas for dinner, or your thoughts about work projects so that you don’t have to keep mulling them over as you try to get to sleep.
- It’s good for your body and your mind, just don’t do it within two hours of bedtime. Try to get 30 minutes in sometime earlier in the day so that you can enjoy the endorphins and get better sleep.
- Rearrange your bedtime. It’s okay to go to bed when your kids do, especially if it means one or two more hours of sleep. No one will think you’re lame and going to bed early may make it easier for you to get up early if you need that little bit of kid-free time to get something done.
- Get comfy. Kyte BABY wants you to get some sleep too. That’s what they had in mind when they designed their women’s pajamas and adult blankets. It’ll be hard to not get good sleep when you’re surrounded in this one-of-a-kind softness.
Your body needs sleep now more than any other time in your adult life in order to keep your body and mind going to take care of your family and yourself. As you watch your baby drift peacefully off to sleep tonight, think about trying some of these tips so that you can ‘sleep like a baby’ too.
