Everyone tells a new mom the same thing: Sleep when the baby sleeps. Fabulous! Sounds simple enough.
Then, one or more of the following thoughts occur:
Is the baby still breathing?
Did I start the laundry?
That pizza’s been sitting in the kitchen for two days.
I have to pee.
I think I paid the rent…
When did I last change the baby’s diaper?
That two-day old pizza sounds good…
Facebook!
New mom has one or more of these thoughts and, well, the sleep doesn’t happen. Then we cranky pants.
Insert Luree Nicholson. As many of you know, she is a hypnotherapist who prepared us and assisted with our birth. She also does hypnosis for pain, depression, insomnia and now, for sleeping when the baby sleeps! I was her very lucky first client this week, and it was wonderful. The session looked like this: I arrived with Ian, who was mildly fussy and a bit hungry. After a quick check-in, I started to nurse him. Since he is a long feeder (usually 20 minutes or more), we decided to try the hypnosis during feeding (which is perfect since he usually takes his nap just after feeding anyway). We found a comfy position lying together, Luree played some peaceful lullabies (which I certainly remembered from labor and wondered if Ian did, too) and she sent us drifting on a blissful cloud of sleep for the next hour. We awoke together, peacefully.
At the end of a session with Luree, she gives you a CD with soothing music and her voice, tailored made for you. I cannot recommend her highly enough. Her peaceful energy, curious nature, and decades of birthing, mothering, and hypnosis experience create a safe haven to relax and heal.
Mama Mandy 
Finn sleeps that same way… so cute! And you hit the nail on the head… there are so many thoughts that distract me from sleeping when the baby sleeps… especially with “I have to pee” and “when did I last change the diaper?” haha! I wish we lived closer b/c we are going through many of the exact same things right now raising baby boys very close in age. So fun to read your thoughts b/c they’re very similar to mine!!
Me, too Em! For me it’s all about hanging with other new mamas. As much as friends and family are wonderful, NO ONE understands what we’re going through as intimately as someone who is living it right now. Many mom friends attest to the immense amount of amnesia that happens as a parent, so I find the best support comes from other new moms in the trenches! You are in Ohio, yes?
Exxxactly, I totally agree with the thoughts! When the baby sleeps, that’s my time to relax, eat, clean myself up, laundry, clean house, catch up on educating myself, any thing that I needed to get done (dr appts, insurance calls, family calls etc.) pee, and so on. So if I actually could sleep when the baby sleeps, I definitely would! When she was nb I definitely could do that, because hubby was taking care of the house and everything else. & that’s SO awesome about the hypnosis 🙂 I practiced hypnobirthing when I was pregnant! Definitely relaxes you, and then you drift off whether you fall asleep or not, in your mind you drift, awesome. & I agree with Em, I can totally relate to a lot of your thoughts as they are similar to mine as well 😉 Em, that’s what I call my daughter, short for Emma 🙂