Chronic Sleep Deprivation is a challenge new moms face postpartum, as mothers struggle with the exhausting job of caring for the new blessings in their lives while also maintaining their households, careers, and sanity.

A survey conducted in 2021 found that 7 out of 10 new parents lose on average 3 hours of sleep per night in their first year. That adds up to over 1000 hours of sleep or more than 130 nights of sleep lost. That takes a toll on being able to enjoy the new family addition.

The most regrettable part of all this? Most, if not all, of these lost hours of sleep don’t have to simply disappear from a new parent’s life. And with over 1000 hours of sleep returned to parents over the year, the root causes of many future sleep behavior and family dynamics issues are resolved. Crisis averted.

Having worked extensively with newborns and parents postpartum in various professional designations, I developed methods that allow parents and children to observe adequate physical and mental rest postpartum.

In this article, I’m going to share how new parents can prevent chronic sleep deprivation and how to get their sleep back.

Yes, You Can Get A Newborn On A Sleep Schedule

A famous school of thought believes and shares that newborns are not ready for a sleep schedule until they are 4 months of age, but my experience begs to differ.

Intrauterine newborns sleep, eat and kick; they are accustomed to a schedule. Newborns thrive on a consistent schedule when they enter their new environment, as inconsistent schedules overwhelm them. After all, they’ve had a consistent schedule for the past 9 months. In addition, babies learn and process a lot of information about their new environment, requiring A LOT more sleep in their first few months.

Positive Sleep Habit Formation In Newborns

It is important to note that the activities that babies associate with comfort are learned and become long-term habits; imagine how different things would be if you had the knowledge and tools to impact positive habit formation from day one? Something to ponder about!

Imagine you got into a car with a destination in mind; you put the address in your navigation system, and off you go, driving to your destination with clear instructions step-by-step. Simple.

Now imagine that same experience, but when it comes to getting your child on a sleep schedule.

Here’s a real-life example and case study:

A first-time mother reached out to me weeks into becoming a mother, exhausted and sleep-deprived; she needed help as she was doing it all by herself.

Her little one was constantly irritable, not feeding well, not napping appropriately for age, or having good stretches of sleep at night. I reassured her that she was the best mother in the world.

If she was worried, she was not doing enough; she tried everything at her disposal. I cautioned that she dismisses any information she has heard and allow me to show her what to do based on the challenges we identified, the method she is comfortable enforcing, and one that will work for her family structure.

As a result, her infant went from being constantly irritable to calm and happy, napping once daily to consistently napping 4-5 times daily; we established a feeding schedule, drank more during feeds, and had long stretches at night in less than a week. This resulted in a happy mother controlling her mental well-being and baby’s welfare.

Case study 2

My service was hired by a family to sleep train their 6-month-old infant that was waking up multiple times at night; they also had a toddler that was not sleeping through the night; the family did not have a good night’s sleep in years.

We discussed the sleep training method they were comfortable with, and we put their infant on a tailored sleep schedule, including napping schedules and structured daily activities. As a result, their infant slept through the night in less than a week. The family was thankful they hired my service.

My service helps mothers and parents get a bearing and a direction to navigate and have a smooth transition postpartum.

How can your style help a Mom who is a perfectionist and a stickler for details or really hard on herself? 

As a woman who is also a perfectionist, I realized how painless and easy it would be to empower mothers with the knowledge and skills to impact positive habit formation from day one.

Hence, preventing a problem that may arise, putting mothers in control of their mental well-being, and boosting confidence in their parental skills.

Perfectionists are naturals at anticipating the outcomes of any given situation. When perfectionists are not entirely in control of a situation, they become apprehensive, which can create anxiety.

You don’t need a Ph.D. to understand why exhaustion and chronic sleep deprivation on new parents and babies are not ideal. Preventing or halting these adverse effects is the best way to cater to the long-term well-being of mothers and babies.

My educational background required extensive studying of pathophysiology, different principles of learning, and now in the designation of a pediatric sleep consultant, the sleep physiology of babies.

I have carefully integrated my expertise and methods to achieve a tailored sleep schedule with families I have worked with.

How can your method curtail later postpartum, relationship issues, etc.

My methods help mothers significantly reduce the stress levels that could trigger postpartum depression.

I give parents the tools to become the positive sleep architects of their family, show them how to maintain that over time, and explain why, resulting in a happy mother, a calm baby, and a more rested family.

Sleep-Related Stress Affects The Family

Some things that could put parents under severe stress include exhaustion from taking care of their newborn, the constant cries from babies, the inability to produce enough milk for breastfeeding mothers, and no support system (in some circumstances, some partners leave nurturing the baby entirely to the mother. This doesn’t have to be the case! Anyone can learn to be their child’s sleep architect.)

These stressors trigger a burst of emotions that may strain the relationship with her spouse, others, and even the child.

Mothers without a support system may feel all by themselves with an increased potential to fall into postpartum depression.

My methods help mothers have a smooth postpartum transition as it prevents them from getting emotionally overwhelmed or detached from everyone. Medically, it is advocated to be conscious of the modifiable risk factors that could result in a condition, to prevent or minimize the severity of the condition resulting in an improved quality of life.

There is so much information on navigating this journey as new parents. What if the tip from your mother-in-law, aunties, and friends, works for one night and then stops? Who do you turn to when you only have step 1 of a 5-step process?

Mothers are not sure what advice to take.

First, it’s important to note that there is no “one size fits all method” in sleep training. Each family and baby is unique; what worked for one may not work for another. You’ll need someone experienced with sleep training many children to help you.

Conclusion

The postpartum period is such a sensitive phase in a woman’s life as mothers are trying to recover from the physiological changes posed by pregnancy, amongst other things, including getting back to their pre-pregnancy weight, the persistent cries from newborns, which predisposes to an increase incidence of anxiety, postpartum blues, postpartum depression and trying to manage their sanity.

It is unfortunately too common to lose sleep as a new parent, and if you feel sleep-deprived and want more information on how to become the sleep architect in your family, please visit our website at https://sleepandcradle.com, click the chat box at the bottom right of the page to chat or speak with a live sleep expert.

Author

Cynthia Unuigbe

Founder/Pediatric Sleep Consultant

Sleep & Cradle Solutions