Being a parent is something that many of us will do at least once in our lives. In fact, there are over 3.5 million children born in the USA annually, with millions more being born all over the world.
While having a child can be a rewarding and incredible experience, it is far from easy. One of the biggest struggles many new parents will have to deal with is a lack of sleep.
Children are a lot of work, and you can expect to be up multiple times a night in many cases. This can lead to many new parents feeling sleep-deprived and exhausted.
With that problem in mind, this article is going to go over a few tips to help you get better sleep more consistently as a new parent.
Make Your Sleeping Environment as Comfortable as Possible
To give yourself the best chance of sleeping well every night, you want to ensure your sleeping environment is perfect. This includes just about everything in and around where you sleep.
Ways to Improve your sleep environment include finding a perfect firm mattress, ensuring your room gets adequately dark at night, making sure it is the right temperature, and doing all you can to make it a quiet place to be.
A great way to get more sleep as new parents is to share nighttime duties. One night you will tend to the baby’s needs, while your partner is able to get some sleep. The next night, the opposite will be true. This can be a good system that ensures each of you get at least a little bit of rest, as opposed to both being exhausted at all times of the day.
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Sleep When the Baby Sleeps
While most babies need to sleep a lot, it is relatively inconsistent when they sleep. They will sleep a few hours here and there, but don’t quite know yet that people generally sleep during the night.
If you think you are going to be able to sleep like normal, this won’t be the case. You need to adjust your expectations and sleep whenever you can. A great way to do this is to attempt to sleep when your baby sleeps. This will be different and new to you, but will at least help you get a bit of rest.
Ask for Assistance From Friends or Family
If you are feeling overwhelmed and can’t seem to get enough rest to feel okay, don’t hesitate to ask friends or family for help.
Your parents, siblings, or even friends will often be happy to come over and hang out with your child for a little so you can get a bit of rest. Of course, never rely on this all the time as other people have their own lives and may not always be able to help.
Prioritize Your Sleep
With sleep being hard to come by as a parent, it’s important to prioritize your sleep. You may have to give up certain hobbies for a while like playing video games, going out with friends, or playing sports, just so you have enough time to sleep. If sleep is not among your top priorities, there simply may not be enough hours in the day to get enough for you to feel well-rested.
In conclusion, by following these tips and considering these factors, you can ensure you continue to get quality rest, even as a new parent.
