Postpartum Sleep: Why It’s Important & How You Can Get It
“Just sleep when the baby sleeps.” How frustrating! Between breastfeeding, household chores, attending older kids, and selfcare, this common advice can be exasperating. Research shows that rest is crucial for mental and physical health, but a good night’s sleep is often nothing more than a postpartum wish…until now. I’m going to share some concrete, research-backed tricks to help you rest well and ward off health troubles. But first, why is sleep so important in the first place?
The Importance of Postpartum Sleep
The quality of a mother’s sleep greatly affects her likelihood of experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD). In fact, a 2016 study found that moms who do not get adequate sleep are 3.34 times more likely to suffer mental health issues after delivery. While PMAD resembles generalized depression, the symptoms are often more severe. Typical signs can include excessive sadness, guilt, fear, hopelessness, and isolation. Some moms even experience an extreme loss of focus (ignoring baby’s needs or missing appointments), panic attacks, hallucinations, thoughts of harming themselves or their infants, and even suicide. Furthermore, PMAD tends to hit career-oriented women like an 18-wheeler. These ladies are accustomed to feeling capable and independent. When sleep problems arise, however, they struggle at work and are forced to rely on others, something to which they may not be accustomed. Such reliance can lead to feelings of shame, lost control, and depression. While sleep might feel like a selfish luxury, the omens above confirm that it is an absolute necessity.
The benefits of sleep don’t stop with the mind; adequate rest is crucial for full physical recovery as well. Remember that the placenta leaves a wound the size of a dinner plate on your uterus. Couple that with perineal tearing, swelling, or even a c-section scar, and it becomes apparent that your body is in great need of rehabilitation, little of which is possible without adequate rest. The third stage of sleep is called “deep sleep” where blood flow is increased, oxygen and nutrients are spread throughout the body, and growth hormones are released. These help to regenerate cells and repair damaged muscles. In other words, the better you sleep the faster you recover!
Postpartum Sleep: How On Earth Is It Done?
While the importance of sleep is clear, it’s irrelevant to anyone who can’t snag a single minute. Let’s go over some tips that might help you steal a few restful hours.
Limit visitors. This is no time to play the gracious hostess! Make it clear that you are accepting help, but not company. A useful trick is to keep a chore chart or shopping list handy, and have each guest check an item during their stay. But above all, make it clear that your priorities include your own recovery and caring for the baby, even if that means limiting cuddle time for an over-excited relative.
Keep your baby close if you find yourself straining to hear him whenever you lay down.
On the other hand, if your baby’s cries and coos make you restless, have someone take him into another room while you nap.
Put the screens away! The blue light from your phone, TV, or laptop blocks melatonin which the body needs to fall asleep and stay asleep. Furthermore, the endless scroll brings news alerts, Facebook drama, and other distractions that you just don’t need right now.
Co-sleeping is a personal decision, but studies do show that it is linked to better sleep quality for both mother and child. Remember that bed-sharing is the biological norm which explains why moms and babies relax more easily when together. In fact, their heart rates, brain waves, sleep states, oxygen levels, temperature and breathing all regulate according to each other. Anthropologist James J. McKenna, director emeritus of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, says that parents not only sleep longer when next to their infants, but they enjoy better emotional regulation and decision-making as well.
Exclusive breastfeeding is another way to maximize sleep while giving your baby the very best. A 2023 study shows a strong correlation between EBF and sleep quality in new moms. One possible explanation is that lactation hormones such as prolactin help women adapt to the stresses of new motherhood, including broken sleep. Amazing how nature works for us when we respond to its call!
Demand-Feeding coupled with co-sleeping is another way to meet both you and your baby’s needs in tandem. This is natural, safe, and allows both mother and child to sleep better through the night. While it may seem counterintuitive to feed an infant on their schedule rather than yours, research shows that neither mom nor baby fully awaken for nighttime feedings. The baby calms more easily, and mom is back to sleep in no time. Compare that to getting out of bed, warming the milk, lifting a hungry baby from the crib, and hoping against hope that they don’t cry when you put them back down. While sleep-training might seem like an answer to prayer, it is not physiologically normal for an infant to sleep through the night. In fact, studies show that sleep training damages their long-term mental and emotional health. On the other hand, co-sleeping combined with EBF is a far simpler solution to your postpartum sleep dilemma.
Preparing During Pregnancy
The best way to get ahead of the inevitable sleep loss is to start NOW! If this is your first, the suggestions below might seem excessive, but even the best prepared first-time moms feel ill-equipped for the sleep deprivation that comes with the early parenting days.
Chore Chart. Touched on above, the chore chart applies to any and all people who set foot in your home. Grandma coming over? Cool, she can fold laundry while she’s here. Excited auntie? Fine, as long as she brings dinner. These demands might seem harsh or uninviting, but remember that your priorities are elsewhere. Make it clear that you are not ready for visitors, but help is more than welcome.
One Trusted Person. My midwife gave me this advice and I just love it. Have one trusted person stay over to help during the first two weeks. This non-judgmental someone helps without being asked, gives you space when it’s needed, and doesn’t complain when they don’t get much (or any!) time with the new baby. While Dad should pitch in where he can, remember that he too is adjusting to new parenthood, and a third hand will benefit him as well. Of course good friends are hard to come by, and if no one quite fits the bill, don’t feel the need to settle for the “help” of an overbearing baby-hog.
Delegate Beforehand. Chores, routines, sleep schedules, nap times, etc. Get everything organized before Baby’s arrival so that neither parent places unspoken expectations on the other. If you need the kitchen cleaned daily, it’s better to ask your husband now, rather than let it fester and finally blow up at him when stress levels hit their peak (not speaking from personal experience here…)
The app! If you haven’t done so already, download the Ecco Natural Birth app to prepare now for a smooth postpartum journey.
Between the mental and physical benefits, adequate rest will leave you well-equipped for the life-changing parenting role. Your baby loves you desperately, and wants you to feel rested and secure. Not only that, but you deserve to go through motherhood without the weight of mental illness or extreme fatigue hindering the experience. So choose one or even all of the tips above and see how they work for you! And I’m quite curious – have you tried any? Is there something you’d add to this list? Be sure to join the Ecco Facebook group to share your hard-earned wisdom with other parents!
SOURCES
''I didn't know what to ask about: First-time mothers' conceptions of prenatal preparation for the early parenthood period." Journal of Perinatal Education. 27(3), 163-174. (Palsson. 2018.)
Diana Divecha, D., & Divecha, D. D. D. (n.d.). How cosleeping can help you and your baby. Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_cosleeping_can_help_you_and_your_baby
"Postpartum depression: How childbirth educators can help break the silence." Journal of Perinatal Education. 18(2), 23-31. (Zauderer. 2009.)
"Scheduled feedings . . . is this “God’s order?" (Note: This article explores how the more extreme recommendations of infant feeding as described in the book On Becoming Babywise and in the Ezzo Method may pose increased risk of feeding problems, failure to thrive, and death.) Journal of Perinatal Education. 7(3), 1-5. (Auerbach. 1998.)
Iranpour S, Kheirabadi GR, Esmaillzadeh A, Heidari-Beni M, Maracy MR. Association between sleep quality and postpartum depression. J Res Med Sci. 2016 Nov 7;21:110. doi: 10.4103/1735-1995.193500. PMID: 28250787; PMCID: PMC5322694.
Srimoragot M, Hershberger PE, Park C, Hernandez TL, Izci Balserak B. Infant feeding type and maternal sleep during the postpartum period: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sleep Res. 2023 Apr;32(2):e13625. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13625. Epub 2022 May 12. PMID: 35548942.
