


How can I feel less tired in the early days and weeks with my baby? being less or more hungry than usual (Beattie et al 2014).

feeling grumpy, stressed or more emotional.It’s really common to start feeling down: everything seems harder when you’re short of sleep (NHS 2018a).Īpart from extreme tiredness, signs of sleep deprivation include: Or you may struggle on, even though you know that whatever you're doing won’t be to your usual standard. You may find yourself giving up on tasks before they're complete. If you’re sleep deprived, you’ll have slower response times and find it more difficult to concentrate and make decisions. In the early weeks it’s normal for your baby to wake up every two to three hours (BASIS nd), so don’t worry - you’re not alone in this. But when you have a baby, broken sleep is unfortunately just normal life for most. What are the effects of sleep deprivation?It only takes a few nights of broken sleep to feel sleep deprived. So however tough it seems at times, it doesn’t last forever and there are things you can do to help. The good news though, is that it does get better, with most parents reporting that sleep improved after this (Richter et al 2019). It reached its worst point during the first three months ( fourth trimester). No surprise then that one study found new parents’ sleep quality sharply declined after the birth. Though a good night’s sleep is the obvious remedy, this can seem impossible when you've got a baby to look after. You may be so tired that you can barely remember your own name, let alone where you’ve put your car keys. How can I get back to sleep after feeding my baby?Īs a parent, you won't need telling that you could do with some more sleep.Why am I struggling even with simple things?.How can I be less grumpy with everyone?.What happens if I feel drowsy while driving?.How can I cope with sleep deprivation when I'm back at work?.How can I feel less tired in the early days and weeks with my baby?.What are the effects of sleep deprivation?.If you can drop it earlier, then do so, but there is no harm in keeping it going if it is working for you. The dreamfeed(or sometimes called a roll over feed) is a great way to get a good stretch of sleep in those early hours of the morning (usually the hardest and most tiring time of night for mom to get up for a feed) and you can keep up the dreamfeed until around the 9 month mark. Cluster feeding can stop around the 8 week mark, so this little one’s routine will change fairly soon. They are awake for 50 minutes to an 1 hour and 20 minutes before falling asleep again, are breastfeeding roughly every 3 hours, and mom is doing a classic cluster feed of a night. This is a sample routine for an 8 week old. A lot of babies do this all of a sudden and on their own. But again, if your baby hasn’t started stretching between feeds at night yet, don’t panic. Some babies drop the feed that used to occur at about 1am first, and others drop the early morning feed first (the 4-5am feed). There is a longer stretch of sleeping at night.Feeds are starting to space out more evenly, and feeds will occur around every 3 to 3 and a half hours (again, if your baby is hungry don’t make them wait for the clock).This pattern isn’t always predictable and can change day by day, but if you pay attention you may notice:Īwake times are about an hour to an hour and a half long (although some are shorter so don’t keep your baby awake if they are showing tired signs). While some babies still won’t have any recognizable routine by this age (don’t panic!) some are starting to fall into a pattern. Here are two routine samples for around the 8 week – 2 month mark.
