Are you trying to figure out how to fall asleep faster?
Having restless nights?
Or waking up in the night?
If you’re a new parent who is struggling with sleep deprivation, this post’s for you.
And if you are struggling with sleep deprivation, we feel share your frustration!
Honestly, the sleep deprivation, insomnia, and night waking are all some of the MOST challenging aspects of parenting. And it seems like nobody really talks about it either before you’re a parent, or after you become one.
So…
In effort to help others who are facing similar sleep challenges like we’ve dealt with…
In this post we talk about tips that have helped us, plus some for your baby, and some safety tips.
Let’s dive in, so you can be ready to get some sleep tonight.
How To Fall Asleep Quickly
Imagine a future where sleeplessness wasn’t keeping you up all hours of the night.
You’d wind down, get ready for bed, go to to sleep…
and wake up in the morning when your alarm goes off. Now, if that sounds impossible to you, then keep reading.
It’s possible, but it’s going to take some effort to get there.
It’s not going to happen instantly. But over time, you can help things get better.
That means you’re going to have to stop feeling powerless against the sleeplessness.
The first way to start doing this is to…
Tip 1: Fight The Struggle
It’s kind of obvious, but not getting enough sleep will sour almost anything you do as a parent.
As a new parent, you might have a sense the sleep deprivation is coming…
But you can’t imagine how severe it’ll be.
And when it arrives?
You’re so exhausted from everything else that you don’t even put up a fight!
Meanwhile, experienced parents know the reality of the lack of sleep…
And yet they stay up late – sacrificing even more sleep -to have some time to themselves!
Yet instead of following the guidelines for getting a good night’s sleep…
…both groups give into risky temptations that keep them from sleeping well.
So our first recommendation is: recognize that not getting enough sleep is a common problem.
And also that there are things you can do to improve your situation.
In other words? Fight the struggle. Don’t let the sleeplessness win. Know that you can gain control.
One way you can begin to fight against it is by reducing your anxiety about things that might be keeping you awake.
One of the biggest things parents worry about is whether their baby is safe or not, which brings us to our next tip:
Tip 2: Don’t Ignore The Safe Sleep Guidelines For Babies
Are you familiar with the latest recommendations for helping your baby sleep safely?
Too many parents downplay (or ignore) simple guidelines for sleep safety.
Guidelines on things like:
What you can do to get sleep for yourself…
…and keep the baby safe at the same time.
Whether you’re a new or an experienced parent, we recommend you review these best practices.
They provide a wealth of info on what you can do to keep your baby safe while she’s sleeping.
The American Academy of Pediatrics updates them every year. You can check them out here.
They update them every year with the latest information based on the latest research.
But we bring this up because before you’re a parent, it’s hard to anticipate the intensity of sleep deprivation you’ll face.
Tip 3: Don’t “Embrace The Suck,” Do This Instead
Once you get through the first stretch of sleep deprivation, you forget what it feels like.
When you’re going through it, if you’re a coffee addict, you’re probably chugging tons of coffee every day.
The result? The whole phase becomes a blur.
(If you’re a coffee addict, you might like this article).
So it’s easy to see how the difficult reality of keeping your life together on hardly any sleep rarely gets talked about.
Meanwhile, you’re living a sleep-deprived existence, drudging through:
- Waking up at all hours
- Going to work feeling dead
- Driving in fear because your brain is sluggish
Unfortunately, nothing prepares you for these challenges ahead of time.
That’s why so many folks revert to telling people to suck it up.
But this isn’t productive. You’re trying to keep it all together on hardly any sleep at all…
The last thing you need is to be beating yourself up!
So instead, be gentle with yourself. Mind your self-talk. And cut yourself some slack.
After all, it’s easy to feel alone during this time, so you don’t need more negativity in your life.
And speaking of feeling alone…
Tip 4: Remember That You Are NOT Alone
Prolonged sleep deprivation can make you feel isolated and trapped.
But the good news is this:
Both you and your baby can get some sleep. It is possible. But you have to make it a priority unlike it ever was before.
When you start to get sleep, even just a little, everything changes.
You regain your brain. You can think. You become more patient again. And you feel like a real person again.
That’s why it’s so important to remember that you are not the only parent dealing with intense sleep deprivation.
When you remember that you aren’t alone in this, then you will feel comfortable taking care of yourself and cutting yourself some slack.
If you think it’s your struggle, you could downplay the seriousness of it and make things worse!
Tip 5: Ask Yourself This Question (A Shockingly Simple Fix)
So have you considered if you’re doing everything you can to make that happen?
The first step is making sure you can fall asleep.
The second is following the safety guidelines to help your baby sleep.
Three things that have helped us with the first are:
Turning off blue light sources, not using your phone an hour before bed, and having some tea to wind down.
Tip 6: Don’t Forget These Tips
Try taking these basic steps, make sure you do them consistently, and see if you find it a bit easier to fall asleep.
Now about those safety guidelines for your baby…
One new study in the Journal of American Pediatrics found that a lot of parents aren’t following the safety guidelines. In fact, they found a “significant gap in safe sleep practices among U.S. families.”
And here’s the real surprise:
The most straightforward things you can do to ensure your baby sleeps well AND safely are simple.
Yet so many aren’t doing them.
Start Doing These Things TODAY
The AAP synopsis alone identifies these practices.
Here’s are their tips on how to fall asleep faster:
- Exactly how to place infants to sleep in their cribs (Hint, it’s not what your parents did)
- What type of surface your baby should sleep on
- The #1 thing you should avoid putting in the baby’s crib
- And where you should put your baby’s crib (despite your Pinterest inclinations)
You should apply these tips and make sure your baby sleeps safely.
That way, you won’t be worried about it either.
The result?
A better night’s sleep for you too.
If you’re interested in seeing the summary with the tips, check it out here.
Tip 7: Invest In Your Sleep
Let me ask you a question:
How old is your mattress?
Is it 5 years old? 10? 15?
And how good of a mattress is it in the first place?
If you’re like us, you like to save money when you can. But consider that a large percentage of your life is spent sleeping.
And yet so many folks try to sleep on a crappy mattress.
You’re practically setting yourself up to fail.
If you’ve resisted buying good stuff to help you sleep better, might be time to rethink that.
At a minimum, you should invest in a quality mattress and an eye mask.
The good news is you can get a quality sleep mask at target or Amazon for about $10.
And the better news is you can get a supremely comfortable mattress for MUCH less than you used to be able to.
Currently, we have a king-size mattress from Linenspa.
It’s like luxury at an affordable price.
So stop telling yourself that your sleep isn’t worth investing in, and set yourself up for some sleep success today.
And let us know, if you’re trying to figure out how to fall asleep faster, what tips do you find most helpful?
