Kristie McNealy, MD

Apparently, I’m in good company, because the very same day I felt compelled to blog about all the sleep the baby and I haven’t been getting, the results of a UK sleep study were released showing that new parents lose an average of 6 months of seep in their child’s first 24 months of life.  According to the survey by Silentnight, 10% of new parents live on just 2.5 hours of sleep of night.  I guess I have something* to be thankful for after all.

According to the survey of 1,000 adults, nearly 2/3 of parents with kids under 2 get just 3 1/4 hours of sleep each night.  A healthy adult actually requires an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night.

Unfortunately, as moms adapt to the sleep patterns of their babies, they increase their risk of longterm insomnia.  Lack of sleep also carries other risks, like:

• Decreased work quality
• Increased anxiety and depression
• Slower reflexes
• Headaches
• Weakened immune system

You can help yourself cope with the sleep deprivation of new parenthood in a variety of ways.  “Sleep when the baby sleeps” may sound cliche, but if you’re able, grab some z’s instead of catching up on chores when your baby is napping.  Avoid caffeine and alcohol, which can both make it harder to sleep when you have the opportunity.  Find someone to help out with household tasks or to sit with your baby while you get a little sleep, and give yourself a break.

If you have more than one kid, finding a time to sleep can be even more difficult.  It can be very hard to cope with little to no sleep, and some activities like driving can be downright dangerous.  Know your limits, and keep yourself and your family safe and healthy!

*Actually, considering the fact that I landed on bedrest at 20 weeks of pregnancy with M, and that I know far too many people who have lost babies born very premature, I know we really have A LOT to be thankful for.

Update: Once the kids were done, I stuck our son in the tub because he had face paint everywhere.  As it turns out, the blue stained their skin a bit. Thankfully nobody had too much of that color on their face, and we don’t have any important events coming up in the next few days.

**********

A while ago, my daughter got a cookbook for kids from her great grandma, which she really loves.  Unfortunately, the kids usually remember we have it about 15 minutes before dinner should be on the table, and they almost always choose a recipe that we lack half the ingredients for.

Today my 4 year old found it, and brought it to me, asking if we could make face paint (the book has a section of “just for fun” recipes like play dough and goo).  Imagine her surprise when I checked over the ingredients and said yes

After lunched we whipped up a batch.  Its super simple, and the big kids are still playing with it as I type this.  My oldest is doing the painting, and apparently my turn is up next . . .  So far, it seems to be wiping off skin fine with just water.  I make no claims about how easily it does or does not wash out of clothes!

Homemade Face Paint Recipe

• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup cold cream
• 1/4 cup water
• food coloring

1.  Combine the corn starch, cold cream and water, and mix until smooth.  Divide into cups or bowls and add food coloring to achieve desired colors.

2.  Let your kids apply to their face using their fingers, paint brushes or cotton swabs.

3.  Store any left overs in zip top bags.

When Face Painting Gets Out of Hand

Oh, and I almost forgot.  You can find more recipes like this in the book Kids in the Kitchen: Recipes for Fun.  It’s available on Amazon.

Ssshhhh.  Baby sleeping . . .  Oh wait, never mind.  He’s awake already.

I know two things for certain.  First, I’m not alone in the sleep problem department, because if you type “baby sleep” into Google, you’ll get something like 48 MILLION hits.  “Baby sleep tips” winnows that down to a paltry 6 or 7 million results.  Second, all kids are different, and what works with one, is never gauranteed to work with another.  Even most pediatricians agree that there is no one way to get a baby to sleep.  If there was, they’d write the book, and retire from practice as a bajillionaire.

After four kids, I know what it can be like to struggle with sleep problems, and I also know the bliss of a baby that easily sleeps 13 hours straight every night and takes wonderfully long naps.  But despite having two kids that didn’t sleep through the night until they were two, I have never, ever seen a baby that sleeps as little as M.  It’s really quite amazing that a 5 month old can survive on 20 minutes worth of naps and only 9 hours of interrupted sleep at night.  Seriously.

Obviously NOT baby M

M started out life sleeping like a normal newborn.  You know:  eat, poop, sleep, repeat.  As he started spending more time awake, I expected his naps to consolidate into two or three longer naps a day.  Instead, each individual nap got shorter, until I was left with four or five naps that lasted approximately long enough for me to get a drink of water or put laundry in the washing machine.  Take laundry out of the dryer and fold it all in the span of one nap?  Not on your life!

The interesting thing is, that even without sleep, he’s easily the happiest and most active baby out of our four.  He rarely fusses for more than a minute if you’re able to show him some attention, and he seriously never stops moving when he’s awake.  The problem lies in the fact that he has three other siblings who I was planning on being able to tend to, play with and cook for when their baby brother was napping.  Wishful thinking, I know.

From the “No Cry Sleep Solution” to crying it out, I think I’ve tried it all.  I’ve tried letting him sleep in every conceivable place in our home, and in every possible (safe) baby contraption we own.  I’ve also tried completely eliminating caffeine for several weeks (tough when baby never sleeps!).  Baby wearing helps to an extent, but that in itself can be tiring, and isn’t suited to times when I need to do activities that aren’t baby safe, like mowing the lawn, or frying chicken!  Nothing that worked for me in the past is helping at all, and in the meantime, everyone else in the family is starting to go batty.

So, should I just accept the fact that this little guy just doesn’t require much in the way of sleep, or is there something I’m missing?  Does anyone else have a baby with super human powers for survival on little to no sleep?  Did they ever learn to sleep, or was it a life long trait?