What advice would you give to new parents struggling with sleep and routine in the first few months after birth?
In the haze of parenting your first newborn the days can feel never ending. You wonder when you'll get your life back. Will you ever sleep again? Will this baby ever get into a routine or sleep through the night? And then you blink, and your child is three, four and five, and instead you question: "Where did the time go?"
So with the benefit of hindsight, parenting second time round is easier – because with every bad moment, day or week comes the mental mantra - this too will pass. Because it really does go quick. And while those bad moments will pass soon enough, so will those newborn cuddles. My advice is to try to sleep when baby sleeps. If you can’t sleep at least try to rest or do something relaxing when your baby naps during the day. Try to lay down and breastfeed with your baby as its both relaxing and comforting for you both. Don’t Try to be the perfect hostess and don’t Stress about the house's appearance .Try not to use baby's naptime to do chores. Enlist your husband to help. If he seems at a loss as to what to do, give him specific tasks.