Sleep Tips for New Moms

We are gladly partnering with Mattress Firm to share sleep tips for new parents. This is a sponsored post.  

A new baby brings so much to a family: joy, excitement, love, and overwhelming feelings. A new baby also brings a seriously disrupted sleep schedule to the new parents. Ask a new mom how she feels and there is a good chance she’ll answer, “Tired.” Give a new mom an hour of childcare and there is a good chance she’ll use it to nap. Parents and non-parents alike know that getting the right amount of quality sleep can have an incredibly dramatic impact on their happiness and productivity, yet new moms face a unique challenge of navigating all the nuances of life with a baby while still trying to take care of themselves and get decent sleep.

Mattress Firm surveyed 2000 parents about the challenges of being a first-time parent. It’s no surprise that loss of sleep came out as the number one biggest challenge. (Read more here.) We’ve partnered with Mattress Firm and their Work Hard, Sleep Harder campaign to share tips for new moms on how to get more—and—better sleep:

1. Prioritize sleep.

First and foremost, let sleep be a top priority. That may mean the laundry waits another day (and then another). It may mean you get takeout or delivery more often. In the first few months of a baby’s life and the erratic sleep patterns that follow, moms should try to grab sleep whenever they can. Seize the small pockets of time to rest, whatever time of day that may be.  

2. Trust your instincts.

Ask five fellow moms for their sleep tips and you’ll get five very different answers. One mom will swear by co-sleeping, while another may have only found good sleep when she took the baby out of her room. Some find peace and consistency with sleep training for babies, while others find freedom in abandoning a schedule and simply following their baby’s natural patterns. As with so many aspects of parenting, there is beauty and strength in leaning into your own instincts and what works for your family. 

3. Monitor the monitor.

Baby monitors can be a help or hindrance. Depending on how far the baby sleeps from you, consider turning off the monitor. The lights and noise from the monitor (especially video monitors) can cause disruptive sleep for parents. Babies are noisy and squirmy sleepers, and monitors in the parents’ bedroom can amplify noise and movement for light-sleeping parents. It’s hard to fall into a deep sleep when you are subconsciously listening to a monitor that transmits every noise from your baby. If the baby sleeps far from the parents’ room and a monitor is necessary, occasionally having the parents take turns sleeping on a sofa or guest room (away from the monitor) can allow for a solid rest that can fill the proverbial sleep tank.  

4. Consider screen-free evenings.

We know all about limiting screen time for our kids, but how often do we think about policing our own screen time? The National Sleep Foundation recommends turning off all electronics about an hour before bed. The blue LED lights inhibit cortisol, making it difficult to fall asleep. It’s tempting to scroll through social media during evening feedings, but the brain activity that is triggered, as well as the mental stimulation that occurs when you click through a rabbit hole of Insta accounts and hashtags, can seriously affect the quality of your sleep. Knowing that new parents are only getting a few hours of sleep a night, the quality of that sleep becomes even more precious and crucial. Save screen time for daylight hours.  

5.  Evaluate your mattress.

Your mattress is your literal foundation. The right mattress is key for getting your best sleep. Mattress Firm is committed to helping you find the bed you want for the sleep you deserve at an unbeatable price.

  • Adjustable base mattresses (like the type you may have used in a labor and delivery or postpartum hospital room) can be a huge help to nursing moms. Being able to change the angle of your body with the push of a button allows a nursing mom to stay partially reclined, which makes sleep easier for mom and baby post feeding. 
  • Memory foam mattresses can also be great for new parents, as they provide both a true body fit and temperature control. Postpartum moms get to ride a roller coaster of hormones and body changes in the weeks after birth, and a memory foam mattress can temper and accommodate the changes. 

To learn more about mattress options, find your closest Mattress Firm store here.  

Evenings can be hard, between diaper duty, feedings, late-night wakings, and bedtime stories. Mattress Firm gently reminds you to take a deep breath, pause, and allow yourself to sleep harder. For more on how moms can get their best sleep, follow @MattressFirm and #WorkHardSleepHarder.

Michelle
Michelle moved to San Antonio eight years ago and yet still feels like a newcomer. She is rather smitten with the Alamo City. She and her husband met at Texas A&M and started their marriage in Minnesota. After six years of very cold winters, they returned to Texas. Michelle has two kids (12 and 9), along with a very quirky rescue dog and two rather cute guinea pigs. A former corporate food scientist turned part-time yoga instructor, she still takes her food very seriously—she just doesn’t get paid for it anymore. She is fueled by tea, cold brew coffee, yoga, dog walking, books and quickly googling answers to her kids eleventy million questions.