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WOW! Can you actually get extra sleep while you care for babies?!?!

Every doctor has told me "Sleep when the baby sleeps". Good advice. My first baby NEVER slept! I also worked so that was awful. I did a lot of crying, a lot of rocking in a rocking chair and a lot of praying. I can't believe that I actually had two more kids after that. So my husband and I took turns napping. We also took advantage of anyone who offered to stay with my son for a couple hours. Never be afraid to accept help. Especially as a mom - when you are sleep deprived you sometimes find yourself getting frustrated with the baby and you don't want that to turn into something bad.

My second baby was the opposite. He slept all the time. Of course by this time, I was not working so life was good. I had done more reading by this time also. Create a routine: morning nap, afternoon nap, evening nap and bedtime. The same time everyday! Make an evening ritual so the baby knows it is bedtime. It even got to the point where we would have to wake him up from his evening nap so that he would go to sleep at night. It was really much easier the second time around.

My third baby slept, however, at 6:00pm. every night she would scream for 2 hours straight. By then, nothing phased me. Okay, carry her around for 2 hours give her a bath and put her to bed. Easy. If I could just get through that 2 hour period of crying it would be good. And I had convinced myself that nothing would help and that she is going to cry so deal with it. And as long as she was sleeping at night those 2 hours weren't so bad.

I think the best tip is to expect the worse and hope for the best. But making a set schedule and ritual makes things easier so that you can sleep when the baby sleeps. Also don't be afraid to ask for help - most people welcome the chance to snuggle a sweet baby for a couple of hours - ENJOY!

Learn more about this author, Rachael Zigarovich.
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