Sleep Cycles for Mom and Baby

Good article..I know it is so hard when you are home with a newborn and you are totally sleep deprived. The biggest thing I did when my son was born was to make sure that he got to know the difference between night and day. When he woke up at night I did not turn on any lights. I had night lights in all the rooms. This way he did not think it was time to wake up. I fed him and put him right back down. I did not start playing with him and only changed his diaper if needed.

I have heard stories that mothers did not know why the baby would not sleep during the night. Daddy had night duty and he would turn on all the light and be on the computer. The baby thought it was time to play! Big no, no. Baby needs to know night time is sleep time! Good luck and get some rest.


By Catherine Kedjidjian
In this article:Why No Shut-Eye?The Danger of Sleep LossSet Your Sleep Clock BackTips to Get More Rest
Learn how sleep loss in moms, which often starts when one adjusts to her newborn's erratic sleep patterns, can significantly affect a woman's safety, health, and emotional stability.
Do you sleep like a baby? If you are a new mom, the answer is very likely, "Yes." Unfortunately, that's not a good thing. As adorable as sleeping infants look, their sleep patterns are not so sweet for their exhausted mothers. Newborn babies have short sleep cycles, waking every three to four hours to eat, day or night—and, of course, their mothers wake with them. But here's the really bad news: sleeping interruptions continue even after night-time feedings end. When you tuned into your baby's schedule, your sleep clock was reset, your sensitivity heightened. Before you had children, you may have slept through a parade of wailing bagpipes; now a cricket's chirp sends you bolting down the hall to check on your baby—or your toddler or teenager.
Why No Shut-Eye?

Hormones—while necessary for bonding—are a culprit in sleep loss. "Hormones can affect sleep, especially in high doses," says Suzanne Griffin, MD, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center and a private practice psychiatrist in Chevy Chase, Md. "Vasopressin and oxytocin are present in high levels during the postpartum period in both the mother and in the infant. That's why a new mother's sleep rhythms are in synch with her baby. Hormones facilitate the coupling of mom and baby."
So, when you were nursing and otherwise bonding with your newborn, your body was flowing with hormones that disturb sleep. But when you stopped nursing and your period returned, you regained your monthly hormonal fluctuations that cause bloating, tender breasts, and headaches, which also disturb sleep.
According to the Women and Sleep Poll commissioned by the National Sleep Foundation, 74 percent of women ages 30 to 60 do not sleep eight or more hours per night during the workweek. In fact, the average woman hits the sack for only six hours and 41 minutes during the workweek. According to Dr. Griffin, the healthy range of sleep per night for the average woman is seven to eight hours. Obviously, there's a gap—and it's a chasm that is bigger and can cause more safety and health problems than a pothole on the expressway.
The Danger of Sleep Loss
Your safety, health, and emotional stability depend on your ability to get enough sleep each night. The obvious problem with sleep loss is that a tired woman is not a fully-functional woman. Performing daily tasks in a state of exhaustion is not only difficult, it also can be deadly. How safe are you, your child, and the other children in the car if you are a sleep-deprived car pool driver? The Women and Sleep Poll found that 50 percent of women have driven while drowsy, and 14 percent have dozed off at the wheel.
Studies published in the medical publications Lancet and the Journal of the American Medical Association indicate that sleep deprivation can cause an increase in hunger and a decrease in metabolism. That dangerous one-two punch is not just an annoyance that keeps you from fitting into your pre-pregnancy jeans. It can hinder weight loss or cause weight gain and can lead to high glucose levels, which are precursors to diabetes.
Two thirds of women surveyed by the National Sleep Foundation reported that lack of sleep causes problems in their relationship with their spouse or children. As if you need statistics to back this up: depression and anxiety are associated with sleep deprivation. If you are tired, you are likely to be on edge, less tolerant, and maybe not too nice to those whom you love most.

Set Your Sleep Clock Back
The first few weeks of your newborn's life, your best bet is simply to follow the schedule that your hormones have set for you and your baby: sleep when your baby sleeps, day or night. You won't get a continuous eight hours of sleep, but every little bit helps. "Daytime naps can partially compensate for nighttime sleep loss," assures Dr. Griffin.
Tips to Get More Rest
Throughout the early weeks, try to maintain good sleep habits; that practice will help you get back into a normal sleep pattern later on. Sleep-promoting steps you can take include:
Go to bed at a regular time every night.
Avoid alcohol and anything high in caffeine, sugar, and salt.
Exercise regularly, but don't work out within three hours of bedtime.
Eat a light snack (but not a full meal) before bedtime. If your snack includes dairy products, you'll get a dose of the natural sleep-promoting substance tryptophan.
Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and at a comfortable temperature.
If you have problems falling asleep, get out of bed. Go into another darkened room and pick up a quiet activity – but don't fall asleep in that room. When you feel drowsy, go back to bed. "It should only take 15 minutes or so to fall asleep," says Dr. Griffin. "If it takes longer, it's a signal to go to a physician or seek a sleep specialist."
When your baby begins to sleep for longer stretches at night, you can start to reset your sleeping pattern. Have the baby's dad take over nighttime feeding, or hire a baby nurse for night duty if possible. Cut out daytime naps to build up "sleep pressure" and continue to follow your good bedtime and sleep habits. Then, you'll be able to enjoy the view of your sweet, slumbering child before you head off to bed for a good night's rest.

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