Scaremongers will have you believe that your sleep will be hard hit when your baby is here. Pregnant me, however, was alert to these alarmists and convinced myself not to worry as new mums/ parents obviously receive superpowers to feel at ease with relentless fatigue and that so much can be achieved while the rest of the world sleeps. ALAS reality stings.
There’s a lot out there about how to catch up on absent sleep during the newborn phase but not so much about how to STAY AWAKE during long nights when your baby needs you.
Sitting or lying down was a sure sleep inducer for me so pacing around the bedroom was my only option with my wakeful cherub. Some friends settled into nights by binging tv series, online shopping or reading but any nighttime task requiring my eyes just coaxed them shut!
My strategy was to constantly chat to my newborn about anything and everything. I remember listing all the people that were in her life and their back stories. My personal podcast. Quite randomly, the love ballad lyrics of one hit wonder 90s bands (cue ‘East 17’) would fill my tired head. The poignancy of the stories and songs combined with an overtired brain used to make my sob happy tears which in turn would keep me awake!
However you manage (AND, YOU WILL) a big recommendation is to enlist someone (partner or a dedicated other) to take your baby at whatever reasonable time YOU dictate – 6am is perfectly fine – to give you a couple of hours of blissful shut eye each morning.
What sleep / not sleeping (!) advice would you give mums-to-be?
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