How to Cope with Sleep Deprivation

Starting Your Day

“The best way to start your day off is with hydration. Grab a big glass of water and avoid reaching for the coffee immediately, the reason being that water saturates our cells and makes our body's functions run a bit more smoothly.

Caffeine is dehydrating, but not only this, it can cause a spike in energy - sounds great, hey…but wait! When your caffeine levels drop, your energy will always crash back to the baseline. This means if you can wait up to two hours before having caffeine, it will significantly help you to feel alert for the rest of the day!

Other Energy-Boosting Tips

Light exercise: A walk with the pram in the open air can be a really restorative activity and make you feel brighter by getting the blood flowing. Not to mention the benefits for your little one.

Open windows: Fresh air helps to increase serotonin levels, which can help you feel happier and more relaxed. It can also improve brain functioning, which can ensure better focus and concentration. A win-win!

Head outside: For the same reasons as above, plus daylight helps to trigger alerting hormones, making you feel more awake and energised, and at this point, every little helps!

Don’t forget to eat: It’s really easy to forget to feed yourself when you’re focused on keeping your little one fed and happy, but it’s essential to prioritise yourself, too. Grab a piece of fruit to start your day, nutrition is key and can be really pivotal in helping you feel more refreshed. Starchy, sugary and greasy foods are likely to make you feel more sluggish!

Take Things a Step at a Time

All this is well and good, but how do you actually action this if you truly feel too tired to move?

1. Start with one tiny step: It might be throwing back the covers, opening the blind, or taking a sip of water. Make every task a small step towards something positive for your body.
2. Reach out to a friend or family member: Ask if they can help out a little, or sometimes, simply telling someone you had a terrible night and are going to try and get out can be a good bit of accountability and motivate you to act on your words.
3. Take it slow: It's totally okay to cancel plans and have a day at home snuggling on the sofa if that's what you need. If you get the chance to nap, grab the opportunity!

Try Non-Sleep-Deep-Rest (NSDR): This practice helps your body to rest without actually falling asleep. I do it when I get a chance, and it's amazing how different you can feel afterwards. So, instead of scrolling, try searching for an NSDR on YouTube and listen to a track there.

What About Your Baby?

If they have had a terrible night, too, here are my top tips for keeping their sleep on track!

1. Try to stick as close to your typical day as possible. If you do have a routine or pattern of sleep and feeding, try to keep this as similar as you can. If you do need to adjust sleep timings, do so in 15-minute increments.
2. Consider adding an additional nap; it could be as short as 20 minutes, but it can make all the difference.
3. Don’t worry about where or how this sleep is achieved. If you need a pram nap or a contact nap is what your baby needs, go for it!

Try not to compensate too much. Sometimes making too many drastic changes to overcompensate for sleep going a bit wonky can tip the balance and change sleep patterns. Making big shifts can mean that your child begins to have what’s called a ‘circadian shift’. This means that their day and night patterns can become a little stretched which can lead to longer term challenges. (Don’t worry if this is you, it is fixable!)

Remember, although this is hard, it won’t last forever! What's more, you have us here to support you.

If you want support with your sleep journey, simply explore our sleep hub or reach out here for judgement-free, gentle sleep support.”