With a new baby sleep can become all but a distant memory. These little monsters can be very demanding for the first few months of life. Each baby is unique, some may sleep through the night immediately while others wake up numerous times a night. Either way, keep these tips in mind to help you and your wife get the best sleep possible.
Advice for Dads: Successful Sleep
- Work shifts with your wife. You might as well suffer equally and trade off nights of sleep. This gives each of you a chance to catch up on much needed rest.
- If you need a good night sleep due to job demands, traveling, etc discuss it with your wife. Come up with a compromise that will work for both of you. Give a little, get a little – just don’t make it a habit!
- With a newborn, consider co-sleeping. Co-sleeping allows you to care for your baby from the comfort of your bed. One of the greatest benefit is that mom can nurse while half asleep. Some moms will often sleep right through it and not even remember nursing during the night which is a good night in my books!
- If co-sleeping is not your thing, get a rocking cradle and place it right next to your bed.
- Make sure your baby is full before bedtime. Just like topping up the car before a long trip, your baby will sleep much better with a full belly.
The philosophy to keep in mind is to make life easy as possible at night. Any distractions, or stimulation will be counter productive and will lead to many late nights!
Related posts:
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
So glad you mentioned Co-sleeping
My wife and I did it with our two kids and it worked like a charm. They were sleeping through the night almost from the start. Neither of us lost much sleep at all. It was a huge relief. Compromise, like you say, is always at the heart of child rearing.
[Reply]
I was really surprised that co-sleeping worked as well as it did. I don’t see it as much of a burden, the only downside is the little cold hand tickling you or the odd kick to the back, lol. We don’t plan on co-sleeping for too much longer, hopefully she will be sleeping through the night soon enough!
[Reply]
We are 8 months in…
Our son sleeps very well thru the night, but last night something went wrong…
terribly wrong.
I am exhuasted this morning!
[Reply]
We were always afraid of co-sleeping. I have a few friends that have 4 year olds still co-sleeping. They just won’t sleep in their own bed.
Our boy slept in his crib in his own room since the day he came home from the Hospital. When he was a newborn he would wake up every few hours, but you get used to it. At about 7 weeks old he slept through the night and has ever since.
I say what works for you. I am sure every person/family is different. For us it was all about finding what worked. Once we found what worked, we stuck with it.
One thing you did not mention is consistency. Have a routine before bed. With my son we go around the house and turn off all the lights one by one, say good night to the fish in the fish tank, get his stuffed animals in bed, and then kiss him goodnight. He knows it’s bed time long before he actually gets in bed. This has helped us tremendously, especially since he has gotten a bit older.
[Reply]
Good Post! I can image that sleep will be at a real premium for me soon!
Shane
[Reply]
Great advice Jared,
To be honest I was always the guy who said no to co-sleeping and that she would be in her own crib in her own room right from the start. But yeah…. that didn’t last long, mainly due to mommy not being ready!
[Reply]