{"id":27871,"date":"2023-05-03T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.saatva.com\/?p=27871"},"modified":"2023-05-08T15:34:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:34:53","slug":"sleep-after-maternity-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/sleep-after-maternity-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Common Questions About Sleep After Maternity Leave, Answered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The sleep deprivation of new parenthood<\/a> can feel crushing, but for infants, middle-of-the-night wakeups are developmentally normal, necessary, and healthy. As babies grow, they can continue to wake throughout the night for various reasons; and adults and children both, from time to time, wake up overnight and struggle to fall back asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, while your child is on no timeline to return to the schedule and demands of a workday, you may be. That\u2019s why we answered three questions from new mothers on handling the overnight challenges that can present themselves while juggling working and parenting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 common questions about sleep after maternity leave<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When should I prioritize sleep versus “muscling through”?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a tough one. The mom in me wants to tell you to sleep, sleep, and always choose sleep. After all, we can\u2019t do anything well when we don\u2019t put ourselves first. Sleep, specifically, is of paramount importance not just for our physical and mental well-being but also for our ability to make decisions and\u2026live safely (sleep deprivation is a huge risk factor, for example, for car accidents<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pragmatist in me knows that being a new mother<\/a> in this country also involves showing up to a job as if you weren\u2019t up all night, as if you haven\u2019t already had a full morning of parenting, and as if you don\u2019t have a full night of caregiving tasks at home after work. It often involves working jobs without policies, such as paid leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A source I interviewed for a story once told me that the U.S. \u201chas the most family-hostile public policy of any country in the western industrialized world<\/a>.\u201d (You\u2019ve likely seen the quote: You\u2019re supposed to mother like you don\u2019t have a job and work like you don\u2019t have to mother. The math doesn\u2019t add up.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So first, know this: If you\u2019re waking up bleary-eyed with a baby, a toddler, and three deadlines eyeing you down, you\u2019re not alone, you likely push through, and<\/em> it shouldn\u2019t be this way. All things can be true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now for some solution-oriented questions: Are you in a role at work that offers some flexibility? (Are you able to take lunch early and nap<\/a>?) Are you able to ask <\/em>for flexibility in your role? Does your company have policies like paid leave, work-from-home days, or flexible hours? Can you band together with other parents to request them? Not everyone is in these positions, but if you are, speaking up can create lasting and positive changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the practical Qs: What, realistically, do you need right now to get through the day (a few minutes to rest your eyes, help with the kids come evening)? What kind of support can you lean on? How can you prioritize your to-do list? What could you postpone till tomorrow? How can you ensure you\u2019re doing things in a way that works best for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those answers will be different for everyone, and they won\u2019t exactly create an either\/or answer (sleep or \u201cmuscle through\u201d)\u2014but they should help lend some clarity, and hopefully rest, for today and the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I best handle a few rough nights of sleep?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your baseline is generally good overnight sleep, you may have just been rudely awoken: When we talk about baby sleep<\/a>, we don\u2019t always talk about sleep regressions<\/a>, big transitions (crib to bed), or that, sometimes, children wake up in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to make big-picture plans, strategize, and shift gears when you\u2019re in the thick of it. So don\u2019t. If you\u2019re up against some hard nights, do what you need to do to survive. Two coffees. Easy dinners. No guilt. Also, think about what could work right this minute <\/em>(yes, in the middle of the night) so that you can rest\u2014or how you can simplify your day or week (can you carpool with a friend for daycare drop-offs?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have a wakeful moment, the other side of that is this: Sometimes, sleep is smooth sailing. My advice is always to figure out an SOS plan\u2014what could help you through the tough days\u2014when things are good<\/em>. Always, the ideal blend will be a mix of support, foresight, flexibility, and a little more coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is co-sleeping the right call?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A colleague of mine often encourages new parents to ask themselves this question when they\u2019re struggling with any kind of conundrum in new motherhood: \u201cIs this mine?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea is that, in a sea of information overload, unsolicited advice, and experts telling you the \u201cright\u201d way to do everything, it\u2019s easy to lose sight of what you<\/em> want, what\u2019s working for your family<\/em>, and\u2014as my colleague says\u2014what is yours<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How your baby sleeps<\/a> is an entirely personal decision. I could point you to practical resources like the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Safe Sleep recommendations<\/a> or the Safe Sleep Seven<\/a>. I could rattle off guidelines or different sleeping arrangement options. But I don\u2019t think that would appropriately address the crux of your question, which I believe to be: Is our current arrangement with sleep working for us?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s an important thing to remember about parenting (another important tidbit that tends to get drowned out in the noise): What\u2019s the right call right this minute or today might not be the right call tomorrow, in a week, or in a month. And it might not be what was right last week or last month, or when your baby was born. And guess what? That\u2019s OK! Our needs, our babies’ needs, and our priorities and wants shift as we grow as parents and as our babies grow. That\u2019s normal and to be expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember too: Things also don\u2019t have to be either\/or. Often they\u2019re both\/and. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line: If something\u2019s not working, it likely\u00a0feels<\/em>\u00a0like it\u2019s not working\u2014despite what people in your life or on Instagram or in Facebook groups\u2014are telling you. Listen to that parental instinct voice. It\u2019s usually right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

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FAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How do I transition after maternity leave?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Heading back to work after maternity leave can pose many challenges, especially when it comes to your sleep. If sleep is hard to come by as you transition back to work post-maternity leave, do what you need to do to survive. That might mean guzzling two coffees to get energized fast, fixing easy dinners, and figuring out ways to simplify your day or week, such as looking for a daycare carpool buddy. Also, think about what might work in the moment (even if it’s the middle of the night) so you can get some much-needed rest whenever you can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the fourth trimester<\/em>\u2014and how will your sleep be affected during this time? Read our <\/em>fourth trimester sleep survival guide<\/em><\/a> for ways to prioritize rest after having a baby. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sleep deprivation of new parenthood can feel crushing, but for infants, middle-of-the-night wakeups are developmentally normal, necessary, and healthy. As babies grow, they can continue to wake throughout the night for various reasons; and adults and children both, from time to time, wake up overnight and struggle to fall back asleep. Yet, while your child is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":27872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[389,391],"tags":[],"coauthors":[430],"guest":[],"host":[],"class_list":["post-27871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleep-health","category-sleep-family"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27871"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=27871"},{"taxonomy":"guest","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/guest?post=27871"},{"taxonomy":"host","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/host?post=27871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}