by Stephen Mark Richardson

Created on: September 24, 2008

The months and months of carrying your baby around inside you are finally over. You take a deep breath, and release a well deserved sigh of relief. Although a joyous occasion, your partner also takes a sigh of relief, as you both consider the fact there will be no more getting up throughout the night to empty your bladder, due to baby sprawling out on it; no more tossing and turning as you try to get comfortable in bed, with no joy; and no more eating horrible foods that you would normally hate the sight of, let alone put in your mouth.

You finally leave the hospital and make your way home after a long day (regardless of how long you were actually in labour for), and consider to yourself how good your new born baby is, as he/ she's been sleeping all day. However when it's time for you to get some rest, you kick back, close your eyes, and it hits you. The wailing of your child, when it seems that no matter what you do, he/ she just won't settle. Nappy changes, feeds... you name it, it just doesn't seem to work!

The fact of the matter is that although it is difficult for you and your partner (if applicable); you need to try and be patient, and consider the fact that not long ago this new born baby was inside you. Furthermore, not long ago this was baby's home. Now your child has broken free, your child also has to adjust to a new environment.

The key to gaining extra sleep is to establish a routine/ routines. The following points consider the ways in which you can assist your baby in finding a structure to his/ her new life, and as a result you will also be able to benefit by getting some rest. After all, if you're burnt out, it's going to make it even harder to care for the little one. As children (and babies in particular) need lots of guidance, stimulation, and emotional warmth (to name a few), you will be better able to provide these if you've at least been able to catch up on some well deserved rest.

Feeding Routine

Breast feeding is a difficult feeding method, as the constant demand of food is a lot greater than bottle feeding. Nonetheless, the key here is establishing a fixed feeding routine. Lots of parents have difficulty with feeding, as due to the fact babies (up to a certain age) are orally fixated, they will get to a point where even though they have not had enough food, they will fall asleep whilst feeding, due to their contentedness of having something in their mouth. A way around this could be to give a nappy change once at this point, to offer a break

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