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Can you believe that the baby pictured below is the same kid as the one above?
It is a shock every time I think about it! The years go by so quickly, but it feels like just yesterday, especially when I start talking to friends who have babies now. We always seem to end up talking about how hard those first few months can be with the lack of sleep and all, and I always share my favorite new parent tip, how to get sleep…real sleep with a new baby at home.
Pete and I figured out the whole sleep issue pretty early on after I confided in him that I felt like I was having problems functioning as my usual self due to lack of sleep after Maddie was born. She had to be fed around the clock, every two hours for the first few months of her life since she was a 4 lb. premie. It felt like as soon as she would fall back to sleep, it was time for another feeding. Which left no time for me to sleep at all.
Pete likes to fix things and he instantly came up with a solution.
We needed to divide and conquer. Not to just have help here and there, but really divide those hours up. We based our schedule off of our normal sleep times. I’m a night owl, so I would take the late-night shift and Pete is an early bird, so he would take the early morning shift. During each of our shifts, the sleeping person was not to be woken and the on shift person woke up for every feeding and if the baby needed anything. It looked something like this:
Heather 9 pm to 2 am.
Pete 2 am- 7 am.
Having that five hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep was the saving grace for both of us and Pete ended up loving that time together with our babies.
For Maddie and Ash, this worked perfectly after we started them on formula and for Emmy, we did it as soon as she came home from the hospital. In fact, on the way home from the hospital we stopped at Walmart to buy Parent’s Choice® Infant Formula, diapers, and about 20 other things. Since we had waited so long to add another baby to our family, I didn’t want to jinx her adoption and buy too many things ahead of time. We did an epic shopping trip for her on the way home from the hospital. Pete and I ended up switching off staying with her in the car on that trip because even though she was baby number three, we were just as careful about taking her out in public during those early days so that she wouldn’t come into contact with germs. I felt like a new mom all over again! That was one of the happiest days of my life!
What are your best tips for staying rested with a new baby?
Oh wow, I’ve never thought about breaking the night feedings into shifts!! Cosleeping was the easiest answer for us with my son because I was exclusively breastfeeding, but I think I want to do things a little differently with baby number 2. Thanks so much for sharing! <3
That’s really great that your husband and you were able to sit down and figure out a schedule that helped the both of you. You really do need to work together when you have children and that’s great he helped you get those five uninterrupted hours.
It is great that you and your husband can both sleep and still get undivided solo time with baby. I think that is a great idea x
Love these tips, especially the shifts idea! Definitely going to try this with baby #2.
It great that you and your husband were able to find times to help each other out with the baby,super important for the both or you and the baby.All of these are such great tips that I will have to use when I have a child one day.
Dividing up sleep time is genius! I wish we would have thought of doing that, we both woke up every time that our little man woke up. (He was a premie and feeding all the time too.)
well i need to prepare myself for these baby-things for this year. I know it will be hard, but am excited.
Your kid looks adorable 🙂
I have to prepare myself for this kind of new adventure and I hope that I could make it. Am excited though I understand it would be difficult and challenging. 🙂
That is a good strategy! It didn’t work for us though because baby just wanted her mummy to feed her. It could be due to the breastfeeding that created that sort of attachment between the child and the mum.
Today things are totally different. I’m the one doing all the formula milk feeds haha. Thank God that baby sleeps through the night!
Shift work on night feeds saved our marriage back then! Our second was hard work in the night and it was the only thing that worked for us! What a cute baby by the way!!
I entered your giveaway lol. For one, your kids are adorable!! I actually have never used formula… My oldest is 4 and we never had to use it with her. Now my baby is 6 months old and I may be going back to work. While I will try to pump enough, I might have to supplement… So this would be a good option.
Thats a great idea if you have the support. You both got to share in the joys of night feedings.
I was SO blessed that my son was always great at telling the difference between night and day and slept through the night starting at three months. Most nights. Your daughter is a cutie.
Supporting each other during the night is a great thing!Your kids are so cute and adorable in these pictures!
Sleep is really important especially when you’re a parent. I think it’s really nice that you came up with a schedule that both you and your husband can work with.
It’s really important to have a schedule so that you can get enough sleep despite having a new baby to focus all your attention on. This sure sounds like a great brand!
Diving up your sleep time is great! I think having a schedule is important and it will make you two feel better as well. Your daughter is so adorable.
Sounds like a great brand. I really can’t get over how cute those pictures are.. So precious!
OMG those pictures are so cuteee. I can totally realte to you as i have a 15month old son.
Perfect planning is one of the best ways to solve a problem and you did it! We have to support one another, in order to complete a task, an obligation. Now she already grows to be a fine kid. Congrats to both of you.
Great schedule for you and your husband! That way you both manage to get some much-needed sleep! I’m such a light sleeper, so I would just wake up each time anyway.
This is a question I always asking the new moms. Like when and how do you find time to do anything when the baby needs so much attention. However it’s very important to give your body rest, even if its for a few hours lol
So relevant right now! Baby due in about a month so I’m definitely looking for different options to help with sleeping, because I’ve heard it can be quite a challenge sometimes. Hoping baby will co-operate haha! 🙂
Going to share this with my best friend. She is pregnant with her first, so I know this would come into good use for her.
This is exactly what my husband and I did with our first! Except he took the night shift and I took the morning shift. Now that our son is 2 and our newborn is here, it’s a bit more challenging. Our son stopped sleeping through the night so it’s like having two newborns in the house! My husband handles our son and I handle our daughter so I can breastfeed her. It’s not ideal but it works for now…someday we’ll sleep again, right?