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Sanity & Your New Baby-Are you dreading the sleepless nights and relishing the thought of holding and caring for your new born baby and then wondering just how you’ll cope with sleep deprivation and retain your sanity all at the same time? New baby’s will of course need constant attention in those first few weeks and by week six you will probably be feeling like  a zombie on some days, unless of course you have an amazing baby who sleeps for a good few hours at night! This can happen however what most mums call sleeping through the night differs widely from mother to mother. Yesterday I spoke to a mother who looked at her child after birth and thought, ‘Oh, who’s going to feed you?’ and then realized that it would be her!
At this point she jolted herself as her new role as a mother began to dawn on her.
Baby sleep patterns change from month to month, so it is not surprising that mums get caught out and feel maybe a little smug if their new born sleeps for a period of 6 hours early on. Mark my words though, by months 4-5 things will have reverted backwards for them, unless they have professional guidance. So how soon should you start setting ‘routines or getting help with your baby who’s not sleeping of feeding well?
My response to this would be if your baby is not taking full feeds, was full term and is not sleeping for more than an hour or two day and night and over 3 months old, you have the beginnings of many more sleepless nights. What would you gain by leaving things to chance, if you have no idea how to improve things? This is like sending your child to school and them not learning or making progress after a few weeks and crying at home because you’ve done nothing to help them except offer love and cuddles, you simply would not sit back and accept it.
A new baby is not going to benefit if not taught to settle and sleep if they don’t have the right encouragement or environment for this to happen. Baby’s like humans are complicated at times and when doubt sets in, it’s best to enlist professional help because like with your car or computer, you won’t know the cause of something not working unless you are an expert or have read a manual that makes sense to you.
There is far more to baby sleep patterns than mums are led to believe. Parents whose child naturally falls into good sleep patterns and easily slips into a routine by three or four months is in part lucky but has probably also had no complications and got the environment working well, which is a true blessing.
I have a list of 20 Reasons why babies and toddlers don’t sleep if you want a copy email juliet@sanitynanny.com or watch out for my next blog to retain your sanity and maximize baby sleep.
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