Postpartum Sleep Deprivation Solution - Stay In Bed!

I know what you're thinking...HELP! I'm so exhausted I can't see straight! I can't take much more of this! I'm counting the minutes till my partner comes home so I can collapse but he/she only holds the baby for 45 minutes and then I'm on call again. What do I do?  

What you do is start taking your sleep seriously. Sounds tough I know because it's all you think about but really, are you making it a priority?  Because, provided you're not sleep deprived due to a serious hormone imbalance, all you have to do is stay in bed.  Yup.  You heard me sister. There's no pretending you have the time and energy to be suzy homemaker anymore so let the dishes go, put down the thank you cards.  Call friends and family to drop off nutritious whole food meals and pure high alkaline water and throw in a few loads of laundry while you go back to bed like the Divine Dalais-Mama you are! As a postpartum doula and baby nurse I coach new mothers to do this and it works!  But before we go into the "How To's of Staying In Bed" you should know a few facts about sleep and postpartum balance:

Sleep Deprivation Facts:

1. A new mom loses about 350 hours of sleep during baby's first year.
2. Sleep deprivation is defined as a sufficient lack of restorative sleep over a cumulative period so as to cause physical or psychiatric symptoms and affect routine performances of tasks. (WebMed)
3. Sleep is essential to life and Postpartum Balance.  During sleep our bodies work throughout the night, performing a variety of biological processes to help restore organs and tissues and optimize bodily and cognitive functions. Our body needs adequate sleep to produce important hormones and neurotransmitters that make us feel happy, energetic and balanced. After childbirth, women experience a big drop in estrogen and progesterone hormone levels and possibly thyroid making it crucial to get enough sleep for neurohormonal balance,
4. According to Uzzi Reiss, M.D., OB/GYN, sleep deprivation can be a contributing factor in many serious health concerns associated with new motherhood including postpartum depression. If a new mom's fatigue is overwhelming and she experiences the "baby blues" for longer than two weeks after delivery, she must see her physician. (Things to look for: low energy level, low mental focus and confusion, irritability, depression, anxiety, diminished coordination, little interest in maintaining outward appearance or losing pregnancy weight, little or no sex drive.

Sleep Deprivation Solution:
The paragraphs below were adapted and edited from a handout by childbirth educator Penny Simkin.  It's entitled: How to Get Enough Sleep in the First Weeks After Birth".  Trust me, it works if you work it and you're gonna work it cause your worth it!  Sweet Dreams....

The following approach will help you get as much (or almost as much) sleep as you need. (It does not work as well if you have other children, unless you have help with them.)

• Calculate how many hours of sleep you used to need regularly before pregnancy in order to function well. Six hours? Eight hours? That is the amount of sleep you now owe yourself everyday
• Since you cannot get this amount of sleep in one stretch because of interruptions for feedings and baby care, you will require more hours in bed to get your allotted amount of sleep.
• Plan to stay in bed or keep going back to bed until you have slept your allotted number of hours. This means that with the exception of meals and trips to the bathroom, you do not get up. You do not brush your teeth, shower of dress in the early morning. Make a mental note of approximately how many hours you have slept since you went to bed (but try not to obsess about it). You may have to stay in bed from 10PM until noon the next day to get eight hours of sleep! If that’s what it takes, do it. Then brush your teeth, take a shower, dress, and greet the day.
• Many parents find it easier to follow this regime if their baby sleeps with them or nearby.
• As your baby grows and begins to sleep for longer stretches, it will take you less time to get enough sleep.
• Hiring a postpartum doula is also a great way to ensure you get enough sleep while baby is taken care of and the house isn’t falling apart while you’re snoozing.