Having a baby can be simply overwhelming. Add sleep deprivation into the equation and you are just asking for us parents to pull our hair out with exhaustion and anxiety.
Sleep deprivation is literally used as a form of torture by CSI agents. So, basically we have all given birth to little CSI agents blissfully torturing us, right?
But what I have figured out in my two very long years of ‘mumming’ three kids under two is that it’s all about the process of elimination when it comes to babies and sleep. If you can eliminate the reasons for your baby to wake, you can improve their (and more importantly YOUR) chances of getting more sleep.
And of course that’s the main goal here. Everyone needs more sleep.
Before I became a mum, I thought that if babies were tired, they would just sleep.
Who knew that we had to think about so many things like baby having a sufficient awake time without getting overtired? Or are they getting enough sleep for their brains to develop? Are they fed and full? Is the nappy clean? Is the sleeping environment right? Is it Red Nose approved? Is it dark with a bit of gentle music or white noise? Are they swaddled safely? Are they too hot or too cold?
There is so much to think about, we basically need to create a checklist just to get our babies to sleep. Not to mention STAY asleep.
Now that the warmer weather is here, it can get a little tricky deciding what to dress your baby in, especially for those long, hot night sleeps when the temperatures can also cool overnight. You feel like you can’t win – we’re told that air-con isn’t great for them but we’re also worried they will overheat.