Nighttime Tips for Sleep Deprived Moms of Newborns

Posted by Tiffany B. at 1:57 am

Jul 232009

Tiffany is a sleep-deprived mom to a teen, a toddler, and a newborn. You can catch her blogging over a cup of coffee at Lattes And Life. You can also find her Twitter feed @give_me_a_latte.

Nighttime Tips for Sleep Deprived Moms of Newborns

When there’s a newborn baby in the house, it can be easy to lose track of time. Days and nights are whirlwinds of feedings and diaper changes, every two hours or so. It’s important to try and keep some sort of routine in the house though, especially if there are other children in the family. It can be difficult, but will pay off for everyone.

What helped our family was to focus on getting through each night as peacefully as possible. Nights seem to be the worst; everyone is tired, and it’s difficult to adjust to the lack of sleep. One of the best things we did was to prepare for each night ahead of time. By setting ourselves up for success, it made nighttime feedings much smoother.

3 Nighttime Tips

1. Get diapers and wipes ready. We cloth diaper, so I make sure I have clean diapers stuffed and ready to go. For the first few weeks I used disposable diapers, so I made sure I had them stacked near my changing area. I also make sure I have enough wipes for the night, and set those next to the diapers.

2. Have bottles ready. If you bottle feed, make sure your bottles are clean and ready. If you use powdered infant formula, measure and fill your bottles with water so all you have to do at night is scoop the formula in.

3. Keep lights low, limit noise, and don’t interact too much with baby. Many babies get their days and nights mixed up. To prevent this, it’s helpful to keep the lights dim at night, and the noise level low. This sends the message to baby that night is different than day, and can help baby associate night with sleep. In this regard, don’t interact too much with baby. Feed, change diapers, and snuggle, but try not to play and arouse baby any more than necessary.

By preparing yourself and helping baby differentiate night and day, you can make your night feedings go fairly smooth. I think you’ll find this will help everyone transition into a better night schedule, and get a little more rest!

Stay tuned for Tiffany’s Life with a Newborn article next Thursday – “Moms of Newborns: Dealing with Sleep Deprivation”. If you can’t wait that long, read How to Get Things Done When You Have a Baby: The Practical Parent’s Guide now!

Get more mom tips at Works for Me Wednesday.