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We thought we had it all figured out even before our baby arrived. For the first six weeks, the baby would sleep in the bassinet, closest to my side of the bed. I had grand visions of a slumbering little peanut, peacefully dreaming while I watched his angel face smiling back at me; I wasn?t going to miss any of it. At six weeks, he’d transition flawlessly to his crib where he would sleep for 12-hour stretches while hubby and I would begin to adjust back to normal life?cook up elaborate, romantic dinners like we used to, and settle into our comfy sectional to watch endless episodes of The Walking Dead and Orange is the New Black.
Then reality sank in quickly and ruthlessly. Soon enough we both felt like zombies?serving a life sentence. Every day would painfully bleed into the next, with no end in sight for the midnight, 2 a.m., 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. wake-up calls. While I felt loved my new baby dearly, the sleep deprivation was absolutely jarring. When it was time to transition him to his crib, I hit my sleep-deprivation rock bottom. So, what?s a new mom to do" In all honesty, I am still figuring it out. But here’s are some tried-and-tested tips that have worked for me and my husband:
1. Sleep when baby sleeps: What a cliché, right" Wrong. In the first few weeks, I packed everything I could into his 20-minute naps: house cleaning, dishes, laundry, reading, writing, phone calls, online bill payments and more. Until one day I felt so weak ...