Lack of Sleep and Postpartum Depression

It’s the age-old question asked by well-meaning friends and family members to nearly every single new parent…

“Are they sleeping through the night?”

This question has the best intentions but often leaves parents feeling the worst. It causes them to doubt and worry. They often turn to Google, Pinterest, and Mommy Groups on Facebook to ask…”What is wrong with my baby??” and are met with, “Nothing! No one sleeps through the night!” While this may make them feel a bit better for the moment, they’re still behind on sleep and waking frequently with a crying baby.

Your baby waking multiple times a night may be common but common doesn’t necessarily mean normal.

Sleep Deprivation and Response Times

It’s well known in the medical community that lack of sleep impairs cognitive function. Studies have been done where subjects are deprived of sleep and then asked to take a test. The results are shocking. Critical reasoning, logical reasoning, simple reaction times, and decision making (among other things) were all impaired. While you may not be operating heavy machinery on a daily basis (or maybe you are!) you still need these vital skills in order to function every single day. Even parents who stay home need to make decisions using reasoning for their babies.

Sleep Deprivation and Emotional Wellness

New parents lose on average 44 days worth of sleep in their baby’s first year of life. This ends up being about 5 hours a night for an entire year. This huge deficit in sleep can be a huge element in your emotional wellbeing. It’s been documented regularly that lack of sleep can be a contributing factor for Mood and Anxiety Disorders among parents. In addition, research has emerged that lack of sleep lends itself to overly emotional reactions. The part of the brain that responds to things emotionally (the amygdala) and the part that controls it fire in such a way that everything seems important, leaving tired humans unable to ignore things that normally wouldn’t upset them (like a crying baby or a dirty house).

While there are very few things we can do to get brand new babies sleeping more (they need to eat!), older babies have often been conditioned to wake out of habit. While you have a newborn, you can get more sleep by pumping or bottle feeding and allowing your partner, a family member, or a Postpartum Doula help take over feeding baby at night, making sure you nap during the day, and having baby sleep in a bassinet in your room so they are closer.

Older babies, however, are typically ready to sleep through the night by 12 weeks of age. Once your baby is ready to sleep through the night, helping them learn to sleep independently is one of the best things you can do for both them and yourself. Think of it this way: when you’re waking on average every 3 hours you’re not getting sleep, you’re napping. Losing that much sleep lends itself to mental illnesses and emotional distress as well as a whole host of other health issues. Humans need sleep! Enough with the Martyrdom Parenthood...you need sleep too! It may be common for babies to develop poor sleep habits but that doesn’t mean it’s something that should be considered normal.

Your baby needs rested parents. Get the rest you need, help your baby learn to sleep independently, and be the best parent you can be.

Why Your Sleep Training Books Aren't Working

You read the book. You followed the list. You got all the “recommended items” listed in the end of the book. You took notes.

WHY ISN’T YOUR BABY SLEEPING?!

Take to mommy groups or Google and you’ll find recommendations for no less than 7 different books claiming to help your little one sleep better in different amounts of time. Why so many different recommendations?

Simply put, they don’t work.

Books may be good for giving ideas but in order to customize an approach that will work for your baby you may need to read all 7 recommendations you were handed on Facebook and piecemeal a recipe that works.

First of all, who has time to read all those books when you have a baby that isn’t sleeping? You’re just trying to lay down for any amount of time. Your free time needs to be spent getting rest.

Second of all, the recipe will be different and it will take who knows how long to land on the exact right method. Again...who has that time?

In the time it takes you to read all the books and create a formula through trial-and-error, we could have had your baby (and you!) sleeping.

No joke.

The problem with your books is two-fold and we’ve addressed these exact issues with our method.

Problem 1: One-Size-Fits-All

The books approach baby sleep assuming some accurate scientific facts: all babies need a similar range of sleep and there are some biological truths that hold for all humans. They don’t, however, take into account your baby’s temperament, your family’s space, your needs, or your personal goals. Of course the ultimate goal is “sleep” but that looks so different for every person. A book can’t adapt or tailor your approach. It’s there, unflinching, in black-and-white.

Problem 2: Lack of Support

Simply put, your book isn’t going to wake up with you when your little decides they want to party at 3 AM. They aren’t going to be there with you while you roll out of your warm bed once more to soothe and comfort the baby you’re trying so diligently to help sleep on their own. They won’t be there to hear the cries on the monitor and guide you through exactly how to do it. You don’t have someone who comes alongside you and figuratively (or literally) holds your hand through each attempt.

Your books don’t work because you’re missing the human element of sleep training. You’re missing the customized approach with the human support. Carolina Dream Tree won’t leave you when the going gets tough and we certainly aren’t just words on a page. We’re skilled, trained, and experienced, ready to be there with you through each step in the process of getting your baby to sleep.

Mystery solved: your books don’t work and that’s why.

Carolina Dream Tree Saves Charlotte: Sleep Coach to the Rescue

It’s an epidemic among new parents.

They’ve all lost something. Something very, very precious to them.

Sleep.

Across Charlotte, North Carolina, parents of small babies are desperately looking for the rest they seem to have misplaced.

Most families have noticed a shocking correlation with the arrival of their newborns.

As we have watched exhausted parents push their baskets through Target in search of coffee and some Dollar Spot decor they definitely don’t need, we knew we needed to step in.

Where is the sleep? We wondered.

Brilliant news: we found it.

The sleep new families have been missing for months was right under our noses the whole time (and we have the secret to bringing it back)!

Carolina Dream Tree brings a simple, custom, and effective method to you. We help you reclaim the restful nights that seem just a hazy daydream and make them a reality in your house.

First we assess your family’s needs in a phone call that can only be described as “thorough”. We walk through your goals, hopes, dreams, family dynamic, and just what it will take to get your baby loving their crib. Families who complete this call feel a huge sense of relief and direction.

We then schedule your sleep coaching and come to your home on those dates. In just 72 hours (usually over one weekend) we will bring a plan to you created specifically to get your baby sleeping independently. We’re with you through each naptime, each bedtime, each and every stir you hear on the monitor. We help create an environment that supports your baby learning how to fall asleep (and stay asleep) and walk with you, step by step.

Once your baby is successfully sleeping 11-12 hours a night, the support isn’t over. We’ll leave you with a plan going forward, a phone number, and an email where you can reach us over the next month. There will be bumps in the road but, rest assured, those are learning experiences and actually great things! They’ll set baby up for a lifetime of healthy sleep habits.

Sleep affects everything! From mental health to healing and development, your whole entire family needs sleep. Carolina Dream Tree has gone the extra mile to make sure that our Charlotte families have a sleep coach here that supports their unique baby, family, and lifestyle.

End the battles surrounding sleep and get back to your life!

If you’ve had it with sleepless nights are are ready to reconnect with your pillow, connect with us and schedule your sleep assment call. We can’t wait to speak with you!

A Parents "No-Fail" Solution to Sleep Deprivation

You have a baby. Maybe you have other kids too. You’re tired. That’s normal.

Right?

You run around all day juggling taking care of these small humans, taking care of yourself, taking care of your household duties, and probably working as well. Driving from point a to point b, figuring out meals, doing chores...it honestly seems never ending. Of course your exhausted.

Right?

While some level of tiredness is normal for a short period of time while your body recovers, prolonged exhaustion is not. When sleep deprivation takes place, there are some surprising (and negative) effects that are seen. We know that the majority of parents who have small children sleep less than the recommended 7-9 hours a night they need. We also know that chronic sleep deprivation affects almost every aspect of your life.

Mood swings have been accepted as the “norm” among new parents but studies show something potentially darker below the surface of jokes. Mothers who experience sleep deprivation are at a higher risk for Postpartum Depression and other Postpartum Mood Disorders. While the “baby blues” has long been held as something most newly postpartum individuals go through, sometimes it does deeper than that. With new parents experiencing the lowest amount of sleep vs their childless peers, they’re at risk for a whole host of mood disorders (fathers too!).

Prolonged sleep deprivation has also been linked to Anxiety and Depression and even alters the way your brain works. The need for sleep is just no joke.

Along with mood disorders, we often see cognitive impairment in sleep deprived individuals. The most dangerous part? Most of them don’t even recognize they’re impaired. The effects of sleep deprivation mimic the effects of being under the influence of alcohol. One study showed them to be similar to someone who had .10% blood alcohol content (the legal limit is .08%), however they rated their exhaustion as “mild”. It’s also been estimated that between 15-33% of fatal car crashes are related to driver fatigue.

The bottom line is, parents need sleep. There are not ifs, ands, or buts about it. As sleep experts, we often see Charlotte parents try to struggle through the early months of parenthood. When we finally arrive, they’re exhausted and looking for a solution. We want you to know that going through parenthood chronically exhausted is not normal, nor is it necessary.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Get help and start sleeping now. Our Certified Sleep Coaches are here for you and would love to help you through this. Connect with us today!