Just don’t.
Yesterday, I mentioned I wasn’t getting much any sleep.
And this leads me to my next lesson.
When you have a newborn at home, and you’re not getting enough sleep, just roll with it. Don’t count the hours of sleep you’re missing out on.
Why not?
Because you’ll never catch up. Not ever.
Never.
It’s not like having a big night out. Or a big night in (rit rrraow).
There’s no stockpiling the sleep in advance. No catching up on the sleep later.
The hours of sleep you’ve missed? They’re gone. Just gone.
They’re not coming back.
Don’t add up the hours you’ve missed out on. You’ll be sad when you hit double figures. Despondent when you hit triple figures (and the bags under your eyes seem to triple as well).
Forget the numbers. All you can do is celebrate the nights you do manage to sneak enough sleep hours to feel vaguely human the next day.
Just make sure you save those celebrations for the next day. Don’t dance a little happy dance when you manage to settle your bub earlier than you’d expected. Don’t waste ANY of those precious sleep minutes on premature celebrations.
Sleep. Grab it with both hands eyelids.
Do you get enough sleep? Do you find yourself trying to ‘make up the minutes’ after a sleepless night, or do you just move on?
I used to count the hours when I woke up in the middle of the night. It is torturous!
Gah, counting the wake ups is what kills me! The 1 year old molars that I assume are through now had us up 10-12 times a night for 3-4 weeks. Already accustomed to chronic sleep deprivation, this was a challenge, but nothing was as bad as all of those wakings with a 2 hour period of nocturnal party time thrown in. Ah, you gotta laugh if you don’t want to cry 🙂
Loved this piece by the way,message advice for new parents.
You’re right about the nocturnal party time. It’s DARK! QUIET. Mum is FALLING ASLEEP! WHY do you want to PARTY?!
So true!
I never get enough sleep! And the sleep I do get is broken by a midnight visitor or a trip to the loo. I’d give anything for a weekend in a hotel where I can just rest.
I wonder if you could get a little hands on help for a few hours, to catch a couple of zeds on the lounge?
On the (rare) days I can synchronise naps, I’m unconscious on the couch. (After answering blog comments…)
I think that’s excellent advice. Also, we overstate how much we “need” 8 hours sleep every night. Sure it’s best, but we can cope with less when we need to, especially if we get time out or time to relax down the track. Tracking what we’re not doing just increases the worry and anxiety, for nothing!
Too true. I remember being surprised at how little sleep I could actually function on. Not well, necessarily, but without being a danger to myself or to anyone around me!
LOL! Love it and oh, so true!!! I always loved my sleep but now since having the twinlets…I am constantly withdrawing from the sleep bank. I’m in deficit! But like you said, I shouldn’t be counting! 🙂
Ummm, I still rarely get more than 5 hours SOLID sleep a night, 3 or 4 if I’m lucky – because with 3 young ones, at least one of them will be up in the night. Hang in there it gets better (not really but I want to say something positive 🙂 Em x
Fingers crossed he’s like his sister. She started sleeping through at five months. (What? He’s a different person? Shut up!)
This is so true Emily! I learned very quickly with Punky that there was just no point, it wouldn’t change how tired or not I was. The only thing it would do is cause arguments between Dave and I over who was more tired!
#teamIBOT was here!
Luckily for me (and for him!), Cameron doesn’t even try to compete. He sleeps through the wake-ups so even on days he is legitimately tired (or even sick!) he doesn’t play the sympathy card.
Oh Em, you’re so right. Counting it is the way to resentment. Just forget and move on, and hope not to crash into too many walls through sleep deprivation. I used to run to my bed to not miss a single precious moment of shut-eye. I hope this is a very brief window for you – and you’re catching long chunks of it again before long x
‘rit rrraow’ made me laugh so hard I forgot my comment.
Bwaaaaa haaaaaaa haaaaaa
Yes, I DID count. And it got me nowhere but to obsession-ville. This is great advice Emily. Here’s hoping to more sleep soon. xx