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Motherhood + Parenting Tips

6 Helpful Baby Sleep Tips for Sleep Deprived Millennial Moms

Optimizing Being A Modern, Millennial Mom

Sleeplessness has become what appears to be a parental badge of honor and is a normalized expectation of becoming a millennial mom. Although there are unavoidable days where this may be true, sleep-deprived millennial moms need baby sleep help instead of conceding to a lack of sleep for months, while hanging onto a glimmer of hope that this will pass….eventually.

Proven baby sleep tips for sleep deprived millennial moms to resolve baby and toddler sleep challenges. 1-1 sleep coaching can help you.

Why Millennial Moms Lack Sleep

They say babies don’t come with instructions, and with good reason. Months of research to prepare for the baby’s arrival will still inevitably leave parents feeling a bit unprepared when the time comes to actually bringing a baby home. And so, begins the sleepless days and nights that linger far beyond what should be humanly possible.

No one ever tells us that having a baby means a daily race against the clock to perfect naps for a child who seems to want nothing to do with sleep. Sleep-deprived millennial moms make passing remarks about the daily exhaustion, but even then, it is often hidden behind a picture-perfect photo. The majority of millennial moms are committed to not only a day job but also maintaining Pinterest-worthy homes and cooking Instagram-worthy meals. Social media hides the true debilitating sleepless reality behind many modern-day moms and intensifies the desire to glamorize motherhood.

sleep deprived mom

How the Millennial Mom Can Get Back To Sleep

Regardless if it’s for personal, social, or professional reasons, easing the demands of motherhood means to first resolve one of the largest barriers moms face: infant and toddler sleep challenges. Children who sleep well can be a big game-changer. It has the power to improve both maternal and infant health and wellbeing. For a full read on the health benefits of sleep, check this out.

Sleep-deprived millennial moms can fill up on all the organic meals and yoga classes possible, but we can only move so far forward if lack of sleep is holding us back. The perks of being a millennial mom are that we are modern enough to realize that old patterns do not dictate our future. Poor habits can be broken and replaced with something more sustainable and healthier for the entire family.

It is never too late to make changes to your child’s sleep. Start on these proven sleep tips tonight and have your baby sleeping better tomorrow night!

 

Sleep tip #1: Early Bedtime

6-8 pm bedtime ensures that your child will be able to get a solid 11-13 hours of sleep during the night. Yes…that is how much sleep children should get nightly till approximately age 10)!

 

Sleep tip #2: Same Place, Same Bed

Consistency is key especially when there is a sleep regression. Think of this as a lifestyle choice like when you choose a certain diet. The idea is to help your child’s brain and body to understand that every time they go to this particular place, it is time for sleep.

sleeping baby

Sleep tip #3: Wake windows

Respect naps; naps and night sleep are equally important. Infants and toddlers have maximum alertness and attention but only to an ideal widow of time. They do not have the stamina to keep going past their maximum wake window and NEED naps to fill their energy tank. Naps that are not scheduled properly can derail night sleep and affect their next 24-hour cycle.

Sleep tip #4:  Pause

Before checking on your baby or intervening, wait a few minutes. It doesn’t even need to be long, just listen to the type of sounds/cry baby is making. Jumping immediately to the rescue will create long-term issues for months to come. Give yourself just a quick moment to interpret if those sounds require attention or just sounds baby is making in their sleep. You might surprise yourself to find your baby has fallen back asleep on its own.

 

Sleep tip #5:  Keep it dark

Using blackout curtains to darken the room helps bring on sleepiness during bright evenings and delay those early morning wakings. Both natural and artificial light sends a message to our brains that it’s daytime and not time to sleep. Melatonin production is triggered by darkness. Turn down the lights an hour before you plan to put your child down and refrain from using a nightlight.

child trying to go to sleep

Sleep tip #6:  Hire a sleep consultant

Sleep is complicated! Because every child is unique, every child’s needs will also be unique. Families hire sleep consultants when their sleep situation is not working for them and the usual solutions, tips, and tricks have been unsuccessful. Simply put, a trained sleep consultant is no different from seeking a more efficient process to teach your child how to ride a bike via learn-to-bike camps or private tutors.

Millennial moms every day have welcomed the relief of paying for efficiency and convenience while not sacrificing quality. So why not embrace a service that aims to be the fastest way to give moms the confidence and tools to make the right decisions as their child learns the vital skills to sleep independently.

A sleep expert has the experience to create a sleep plan perfectly fit for each baby’s unique situation and provides specialized follow-up support to make changes along the way to ensure success.

Conclusion

Better sleep for your child most likely is what every mom is looking for. It can ultimately improve the whole family dynamic. The by-product of an independent sleeper is a child who sleeps through the night. Those children are often happier, better eaters, attentive learners, and more predictable nappers. And when a baby sleeps well, we know moms usually sleep decently too. That makes us, millennial moms, no longer sleep deprived but happy, attentive, patient, and on the ball, rather than just surviving.

 

This post contains affiliate links and I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you, should you purchase through one of my links. Please see my disclosure for more information.

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Sleepy Baby Coach

Adela is an advocate for improving maternal and infant health through nurturing healthy sleep habits for children from an early age, using up-to-date knowledge and best practices in her 1-1 coaching as a certified pediatric sleep consultant. For more resources visit follow her on Instagram or visit www.sleepybabycoach.com.

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