Is it normal for the body to adjust to small amounts of sleep?

Question

I had a baby 3 weeks ago and I am exhausted in the morning and by night but during the day its like I cant nap I dont feel that tired after awhile but then BAM late at night it hits me...I go on about 2-6 hours of broken sleep per night

Answer 1

I think mommies seem to adjust better than new dads.  My husband is fantastic, but he needs uninterrupted sleep, whereas I can just get a couple of hours at a time and be ok.

Answer 2

Yep i was exactly the same when my son was born. I feed him every 2-3 hours around the clock. Its exhausting, and I hate to say it but you get used to it. Your body just does it, goes on autopilot and does the night shift. Does your baby take a bottle? Dont worry about people telling you about nipple confusion or keeping up your supply. Best thing I did was to express one bottle of milk a day (alleviates the milk suply/demand dilemma) and my son had one bottle feed of expressed milk from his dad. This gave them time to bond more, gave me a break and introduced my son to a bottle. One bottle a day isnt going to 'confuse' him! Now he takes a bottle of expressed milk really easily when we are out, so much easier than having to breastfeed him in public.

Do you have someone who would be willing to feed your baby from the bottle? Try the first morning feed so you get a sleep in. I wouldnt suggest an overnight feed, as it takes time to heat the bottle up etc and the baby might wake up too much and then be awake for awhile.

Do you have someone to go get the baby and bring him/her to you in bed to feed for the overnight feeds? Even if its just one feed a night or every few nights, it will make a big difference to you.

Best of luck    

Answer 3

I think in different point of our lives our bodies are pretty much forced to. If you went to college and had 3 all nighters in a week, and slept in class, you definitely understand this.

Same thing with new baby. High stress= less sleep.

Answer 4

I can relate to you so much.  My 2 week old daughter will wake up during the night anywhere from every hour and a half to 3 hours.  And she eats each time.  And like you I can't nap.  I get so tired sometimes that I feel like I'm drunk.  But I know that she will eventually sleep longer.  GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 5

Yep. Welcome to parenthood.