Sleepless nights are a reality for new parents. Unless you’re one of the lucky few whose baby quickly starts to sleep through the night, it could be quite a while before you have the luxury of a full night’s sleep again. Getting up with the baby can be exhausting, although it’s nice to spend some time cuddling too. However, you can only stare adoringly at your baby for so long while they have their feed. It can get a little boring, and you might feel yourself drifting off, but you can’t fall asleep before your baby does. So what can you do to spice up your waking hours?
Have Something to Do
Sometimes you’re just sitting there, waiting for your baby to finish eating or fall back to sleep. In the meantime, you have nothing but your thoughts. Instead of just sitting there with the remote control just out of reach, make sure you have something close by that will entertain you. It might mean that you’re working your way through a boxset, half an episode at a time, or you might have your phone nearby for music or texting friends and family. You could have a book or something else to read, or just scroll mindlessly online.
Catch Up on Tasks
There might even be a way for you to be productive while you’re awake. Maybe you’re wearing your little one in a carrier and walking around to try and get them back to sleep. As you do that, you could be picking up some things to make your home just a little bit tidier. Or you could have your laptop close by, so you’re holding your baby with one hand and answering emails with the other. You don’t have to do anything particularly complicated or in-depth, but you might as well get something done.
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Stock Up on Food
Your baby’s hungry, and now you’re hungry too. Getting up in the night can really throw you off and make you start craving food at odd times. Keeping a stocked kitchen means you can have handy snacks on hand whenever you want them. And when you don’t have anything, there’s no harm in a late night pizza delivery when you predict that it’s going to be a very long night. Of course, it’s smart to have some healthy options available too. You don’t want to find yourself snacking too much when you’re not really hungry.
Work on Getting Back to Bed
Your main aim is always going to be getting back to bed, so both you and your baby can sleep. Your baby will often go back down once you’ve sorted out the issue at hand, whether it’s a change or a feed, but sometimes it takes a bit more effort. Singing, rocking or just a good cuddle can help your baby drift off again. Even though you might be tempted to just sit there for as long as possible, getting your baby back to bed means you can go back to bed too.
Long nights with your baby are hard, but you can soon get into the swing of things and learn to get both of you back to bed.
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