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Safe Sleep Tips For When You’re Sleep Deprived

We know getting enough sleep with a newborn around may not quite seem possible…and that’s ok! This is just another season in the journey of parenthood. However, when both you and your spouse are running on fumes, it can be easy to make a mistake or two. Here are some tips to help ensure that you and your baby are sleeping safely! 

Set Up Easy Routines

Make sure that your nighttime routine around the house is conducive to safety. It can be helpful to come up with three or four steps to mentally check off when putting baby to bed, like: bathe, rock, swaddle, place on bag in crib. 

Employ Tactics to Help You Stay Awake During Feedings

While it’s not the end of the world if both you and the little one nod off during a feeding, we want to try and avoid this if possible. Falling asleep while holding your infant puts them at risk of being dropped, smothered, or otherwise hurt accidentally if you do not wake up easily. To help reduce the risk that you will fall asleep while feeding them at night or before bed we recommend that you:

  1. Avoid feeding your baby while sitting in an armchair or on a couch
  2. Ask someone to stay with you while you are feeding, or call a friend for a quick chat while feeding. 
  3. Set an alarm on your phone to go off every few minutes. (It doesn’t have to be a jarring one – just one that will keep you up.)

​​If you fall asleep while feeding your baby, place them on their back in their bassinet or crib as soon as you wake up.

Understand Sleep Cycles

Most newborns sleep up to 16 – 17 hours a day. It’s normal for infants to wake up frequently—sometimes every one to two hours—at the end of each sleep cycle. This happens because all that rapid growth takes a lot of energy, so they need to feed often. Try to rest or nap when your baby does, and keep distractions like your phone off. Consider going to bed right after your baby’s last feeding to maximize your sleep.

 

Accept Help From Others

They say it takes a village for a reason! You do not have to try and “go it alone.” If a grandparent or family member is willing to be “on call” for a night of wakings, this is a great help to take some time for yourself and get uninterrupted sleep. There are even options like night nurses you can look into if you find yourself really struggling. 

For questions or any other concerns, Augusta Pediatrics can be reached at (706) 868-0389. The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this web site is for general information purposes only.

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