apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I couldn't agree more with #'s 1 & 3. No matter how little sleep I got the night before, I just started every day with a shower, and making myself look "presentable". It does wonders for the psyche. Also, exercise as much as you can. Even short bursts help regardless if it is outside in the fresh air, in a windowless gym or in the babies nursery. Just get the blood moving.

A shower is a must! Fresh clothes and a little bit of make-up (tinted moisturizer) always worked too and a nice walk always helped.

"Sleep when the baby sleeps" was the type of advice that made me want to scratch people's eyes out. I had the worst trouble getting my little guy to sleep when he was tiny and it would take FOREVER and when he fell asleep he would sleep on me and I'd be terrified to fall asleep thinking that I'd drop him or something. If he was in his car seat or bouncer he'd only sleep for 30 minutes max and that would be when I'd eat and go to the bathroom. Plus, I've never been able to nap and I'd stress myself out so badly thinking "I have to sleep! He's sleeping! I have to sleep!" which had the opposite effect. Once I finally let go of that "sleep when the baby sleeps" stress I would use his naps to check e-mail and reconnect with friends or do some laundry and pick up around the house. At least I felt like I accomplished something by the time he woke up.

Did you know that after three solid days with no sleep you can be declared legally insane? After my two kids, I absolutely believe it. My first child started sleeping through the night at 15 months. My second...well, she's 17 months and still counting. Grrr...

I agree with jensational. Plus, once you have the second kid it's impossible to sleep when the baby sleeps because you have a toddler running around just waiting to wreak havoc! So I'd plunk him in front of the TV while I read a book and just chillled. I needed that me time.

The last tip I have is to just get over it. There literally is NOTHING you can do. Eventually they'll sleep through the night. I tell myself this every single night...

"Sleep when the baby sleeps" isn't meant literally. When the baby is sleeping, then you don't try to climb a mountain of laundry, cook three meals to freeze, and sweep the entire house. Just relax however you relax. Don't stress over dishes and all that crap.

Get up, have a shower, make a good cup of coffee and cancel anything and everything you have to do that day - only do the bare mimimum. Take a walk to the park, go have some lunch at a cafe, have as many naps as you can - but above all take it easy, dont stress (easy to say that now I know) and remind yourself that the baby will sleep eventually!!!

I've always been co-sleeping with my 2 years daughter and have always great long nights :) since I also breast fed her, there's no need to wake up for the whole night. We got all we need at bed :) Try, is the best choose!

It's particularly hard when you have to go back to work when your baby is only ten weeks (or even less) old. I had to start my maternity leave two weeks before my due date because I was too huge to commute three hours a day to Manhattan, and then my daughter arrived a week late. So I missed out on three weeks home alone with her. There's nothing like having to drag yourself out of bed at 5 or 6 am so you can get to work on time when you got up once or twice during the night. Boy, do I feel fresh! My best tip? Caffeine. Caffeine, and more caffeine. My baby is now 3.5 months old and is just beginning to sleep through the night a few times a week. I told her I'd buy her a pony if she would sleep through the night every night...but it hasn't worked yet.

This is very helpful for someone who is just into her 2nd trimester. Everyone is telling me to sleep now while I can, but I don't think I have slept straight through the night since becoming pregnant. Frequent bathroom breaks and stretching ligaments wake me up now. Luckily my husband runs very well on little sleep. I will have to get him a mask though, he gets terrible dark circles.!

Even when my triplets were teeny, I showered every day. I don't feel like I was ever TOO badly sleep deprived. Or maybe I just forgot. Hmm.

I always feel much better after a shower and every morning I try to put on a little bit of makeup - usually concealer, mascara, and lipstick.

But I would tell brand new mommies to focus on relaxing whenever they can. Forget getting dressed, doing housework, etc. For the first couple of months you need to rest. Make yourself sit down, seriously. Watch lots of television and movies, read lots of books. Just chill out. I tried to do too much too soon...I wish I'd taken the time to do nothing.

I still CLEARLY remember how sleep deprived I was. My 17 month old has been sick this week and five days with up & down nights and you would think I had never done it before. It's amazing how you adapt to three hours of sleep a night.

Oh man! With 2 older ones and another little one on the way, this is bringing back some baaaad memories and the realization that we're about to do it again. Clearly we're insane. -Probably a result of the sleep deprivation I experienced before.

When Sophia was a baby everyone used to tell me how relaxed I looked. I wasn't relaxed. I was just too exhausted to give a crap about anything.

Just reading this post made me tired. I'm going to take a nap.

My baby had terrible colic the first few months, only slept thirty minutes during the day, and didn't sleep by herself for more than four or five hours at a time at night until she was a year old. When she was four months old I finally gave co-sleeping a try. It was great for the baby and I. She slept all night long and I finally felt rested. Unfortunately, my husband just couldn't sleep with the baby in the bed, and we felt it would be bad for our marriage if we slept apart. Here's our solution: I put her to bed in her crib at night and spent the first half of the night in bed with my husband. When she woke up in the middle of the night to nurse, I'd get up with her and move to the couch where I spent the rest of the night. It's a really comfortable couch, so it wasn't a problem for me. If I have another baby, I'm going to do the same thing, right from the beginning. It was the best of both worlds: intimate alone time with my husband and blissful sleep with baby.

What stickyricemama & belel said.

Let your house go! Doing so much housework when your kids are little is like shoveling while it's still snowing.

Don't be so anal about where & when your baby sleeps. If she sleeps well in bed with you, then keep doing that. If not, try something else. Be flexible, and never believe anyone's silly One True Way-ism about sleep, feeding, working, or any other hotly-contested parenting issues.

what hush said!
have you ever met a grown man that was still sleeping in his parents bed? they do grow out of it...faster than i ever thought, too :(

SaltNYC--no, but I've met some teens who do! The idea squicks me out. And I know I'd never get any sleep with my baby in my bed, because I'd be afraid that I'd roll over her or hurt her. If it works for other people, that's great, but I hate when people push co-sleeping as the best thing. It's not for everyone. Our baby sleeps in our room, but in her own bed. It's the best choice for us.

On that note, don't feel guilty if your baby sleeps in her own room in a crib. All of my friends sleep with their kids and they think *I'm* the weird one.

Wait a second. Just try not to feel guilty about anything. Do whatever works....and know that what works can sometimes change.