Not ALL baby sleep was created equal!

    My name is Mica. I am a certified sleep consultant and founder of Rested Mama, Happy Baby. I help families on their journey to establish healthy sleep habits and get the whole family sleeping again! We all know the importance of sleep, and maybe more so when we’ve had a lack of it. So check out our blog post on the importance of sleep with more science and evidence on why it’s so important for us (and our babies) to not only sleep enough but to get the RIGHT kind of sleep.

But what KIND of sleep is right?  And yes, there is a RIGHT kind of sleep.

A Common Misconception: 

    As we bring our babies home from the hospital, we may get a chart that gives us the total amount of targeted sleep that we want them to achieve.  They get a couple of naps during the day, 2 hours here, 2 hours there, and they get 12 hours at night, even though they are waking up about 3 times...we’re good, right? Unfortunately, wrong.

The RIGHT Kind of Sleep:

  When we talk about fully gaining the benefits of healthy sleep, experts agree that “consolidated” and uninterrupted sleep is most beneficial for both babies and adults. 

    You may have experienced this at some point in your life.  Even if you have a child you believe sleeps fairly well because they wake multiple times at night, they take no more than 5-10 mins to go back to sleep. So chances are, even if you had 12 hours with only 2 or 3 wake-ups, you aren’t feeling super refreshed the next day and are likely getting extremely tired early in the afternoon.  

It’s proven that sleep that is interrupted leads to daytime sleepiness, decrease in mental flexibility, attention, and moodiness.  This is true for both children AND adults. 

 

Newborn Fog:

    When you come home with your newborn for many parents, it is a complete fog...what I call the “newborn fog.” First, you are injected with a bit of adrenaline as you acclimate to having a new beautiful baby and find a way to get through those tough nights. Then, it is maybe 2 or 3 weeks later, after the broken sleep (even from a newborn who supposedly sleeps so much), you start to notice your mood changes, your patience decreases, and you start to feel a little desperate because you don’t really know how you are going to function.  For some first-time parents, unfortunately, it can negatively impact a marriage.   

Consolidated sleep is so important for you and your baby.  Children who wake up from 10-12 hours of consolidated sleep-wake up well-rested, cheerful, happy, not just for the moment, but more prepared to tackle the day (as is mom and dad). Check out our blog to learn more about 6 Reasons your baby isn't sleeping through the night and What is an Independent Sleeper? to start getting your entire family sleeping again because a happy mama and dad lead to a happy baby.

 Learn more about how we work with families to help their babies sleep 10+ hours at night without Cry-it-out or Ferber.  Join our free webinar!

Exhaustion is Optional,

Rested Mama, Happy Baby Founder