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Coffee, Chocolate, Alone Time, A Maid. We moms joke about what we need to function throughout the day across social media, but if we’re really honest with ourselves all we really need to function is a good night’s sleep
Related: Create a Night Time Routine for Baby
I was taking a tour of the hospital before Harold was born since it was a new facility for me. Two other expecting moms were with us on the tour. This was their first pregnancy, one was expecting twins the other had a step-child. I was the only experienced new mother in the room with Harold being our fifth baby. We neared the end of the tour, and one of the mothers to be asked me what my #1 piece of advice would be.
I stared blankly into the room as I felt all eyes turn on me. Advice? Parenting? No matter that this was number five, I still felt like I needed other people’s advice! I gave it some serious thought though and thought about this beautiful mother expecting twins as her first, and realized the one nugget I could give her.
Dear New Mom, please sleep. When your baby sleeps, lay down and take a nap. I KNOW it’s hard, but you will be a better mother for doing it.
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Everyone chuckled when I said it would make them a better mother, but the simple truth of it is, it’s TRUE! Sleep is the biggest factor for making either a happy mother or an angry mother. Don’t we all want to be happy mothers?
It took me having five kids to take this advice. It’s so easy to say “I’ll nap tomorrow.” The days turn into weeks, the weeks into months, and suddenly you find that those late night feedings have caught up. You’re tired and miserable, and the chocolate doesn’t mask it anymore.
The last few months of my pregnancy I moved to the couch to sleep. I couldn’t get comfortable anywhere, but our mattress was the absolute worst. Eleven years old, we’d been sleeping on the same bed for our entire marriage. I know some who keep the same mattress longer, but also talk of how uncomfortable it is. We made the decision that before the baby was born, we needed to get a new mattress and improve our sleep.
So I looked into a number of different mattresses, even compared the facts of each, and we decided on a Nectar Sleep. With a forever warranty, 365 Day return policy, and bed bug resistance I couldn’t imagine a better mattress to try, and I am so incredibly glad we did.
One night of sleeping on our Nectar and Mark woke up with no back pain. I was able to actually sleep in our bed again after months on the couch. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too early. So after a month of sleeping on our Nectar, I took one of my daytime naps on our old mattress. Oh, what a difference! After one hour I found myself almost unable to move because of the pain in my hips.
Do you know what else I have noticed since changing our mattress? I have not struggled one iota with Harold’s nighttime feedings. He wakes, I feed, and we both go back to sleep happy. He’s had a night here and there with an upset tummy, so one night I laid him next to me on our bed. Within minutes we were both asleep. Neither of us woke for the next 3 hours, it’s that comfortable. I told Mark in the morning that I thought Nectar ought to make a crib mattress because Harold slept so well.
I think that advice rings true for everyone. We all function better when we allow ourselves to get the sleep we need. But it’s especially true for new moms because that little bundle of love is going to wake you up every few hours! Get as much sleep as you can in between 🙂
To add to that, I would say never skimp on anything that’s in between you and the floor, which means mattresses, pillows, shoes, tires, etc. There are a lot of places you can save money, but anything that separates you from the floor deserves respect. Your body will thank you.
And the one piece of advice I would give new moms is that everyone’s experience is different and no one knows 100% what to do all the time. Give yourself time to learn and grow as a mom. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn. The most important thing is getting the message of unconditional love across; everything else can be fixed and forgiven 🙂
I love that thought about everything between us and the floor. Those are all things that keep us going, and in good health when we take care to get products that work for us.
And yes, every one is different. It would be so nice if moms stopped comparing themselves to each other, and enjoyed their own personal journey’s. Great advice.
I can still use extra sleep and my kids are all grown!
Ellen LaFleche-Christian recently posted…The Cat in the Hat Camping DVD for Kids