You Need a Disco Nap! 6 Easy & Effective Ways to Get the Rest You Need
Tired As A Mother!
How To Power Nap ‘Like A Mother’
Disco Nap Tip 1: When Your Baby Sleeps, You Sleep Too!
Although some days they seem determined to prove this fact wrong, kids need sleep. Mom rule #1 says when they sleep, you sleep. Guaranteed, this becomes more difficult when you start adding more babies to the mix, but for first-time moms, this simple trick is a lifesaver. Put down the laundry. Put away that work email. Forget the dishes. Put yourself to bed when you put them to bed.
Disco Nap Tip 2: Start Where You Are
We can all agree that the ideal place to power nap will be in a hammock on a private island, and why not throw in a few fruity cocktails and a gentle breeze. Realistically, your opportunity to nap will not come at the ideal time and place, so learn to power through it. That’s where the power in “power nap” comes from. If you are in a place where you don’t think you can comfortably sleep, you aren’t trying hard enough.
Disco Nap Tip 3: Slow Down Quickly
The best way to wind down quickly is to start by taking three to six deep cleansing breaths. This helps slow down you heart rate and signal your body and mind to transition into an attitude of rest. Sleep is not the time to think about the list of things you need to do tomorrow, that will only increase your stress levels and suck away time that you could have spent in the blissful glow of sleep.
Disco Nap Tip 4: Obey The Air Mask Theory
Remember the airplane advice – you have to put your own air mask on before helping the person next to you? The same holds true for new moms. We have to sleep. If we can’t sleep, we can’t take care of our kids. You deserve to sleep. Don’t feel guilty, just do it.
Disco Nap Tip 5: Put Down That Phone And Scroll No More!
If at any point you find yourself scrolling through your phone instead of sleeping, you are doing it wrong. Nothing on the internet is more important than the five minutes you could have spent quietly resting. Also, do yourself a favor and turn the phone off. The last thing you want is some random text (from someone you might not even know,) to wake you. We can’t afford to lose precious sleep to a rookie mistake like that.
Disco Nap Tip 6: Ask and You Shall Receive
If it has been a rough week for sleep, don’t be afraid to ask for help. We have all been there and as moms, it is our duty to help each other out. Ask a fellow mom to take over for an hour or two while you catch some sleep, and the next week offer to do the same for her. If you are able to ask your partner or in-laws for help in this area, don’t be afraid to do so. Figuring out how to power nap is a lot easier when you don’t have to figure out how to distract two toddlers while you do so.
I hope you found this useful. From personal experience, I know that taking time for yourself, even just to nap, seems impossible sometimes. But, keep in mind that you cannot give what you don’t have and therefore if you don’t have any energy, you cannot offer your family anything. Also know that this time will pass. Other moms have been there too and they offer Fabulously Helpful Advice.
If you are ecstatic at the thought of sleeping uninterrupted for even four hours at a time – I feel you sister!
As a new mom, exhaustion can seem like a lifestyle, but it shouldn’t be your only option. With the right amount of scheming on your end, you can reclaim some of the lost hours of sleep – even if you have to do it ten minutes at a time.
Do Power Naps Work?
Power naps/ disco naps – whatever you want to call it, can be very effective in restarting a day that started much too early. Yes, nothing can truly replace a proper night’s rest, but being responsible for the lives of little humans means that you have to make a lot of personal sacrifices. (When it comes to kids, sleep is always the first thing to go.)
Not only can they help you rest physically, but power naps are an important mental and emotional break. Short breaks like these can help you process the events of the day and reestablish the alignment of your head and heart. In other words, taking power naps are your second (or, let’s be honest, third or fourth) chance at getting up on the right side of the bed.
How Long to Take a Power Naps?
Our bodies experience sleep through five cycles. Each of these lasts roughly twenty minutes. If we are woken up before completing a full cycle, it can disrupt our natural patterns and leave us feeling more tired than when we started. This is why most people recommend twenty-minute naps, but don’t be wary of sneaking in more shut-eye if your baby allows. As long as you try to sleep in twenty-minute increments, you can wake up feeling rested. This means that if you have the opportunity to sleep for an hour and thirty minutes, try waking up at an hour and twenty minutes instead, because that would allow you 4 x 20-minute sleep cycles.
Featured Image Courtesy of Boryanam / Freepik
