Charley's Mommy Hack: Avoiding Becoming Mombies and Zomdads

For first time moms, actually for all mommies, sleep is very essential; especially if you have work the following day. Unfortunately though, "sleep" is a foreign word to most babies especially during the early months.

I remember how Baby Charley transformed my room mate (my hubby, btw) and me into Mombies and Zomdads (mommy and daddy zombies). We literally survive on caffeine since we barely got enough sleep. Heck, a straight 30 minutes is already a gift.

However, that was 3 months ago. Thankfully, Baby Charley's sleeping pattern has improved (a little) so we could actually (finally!) enjoy 6 hour straight of uninterrupted sleep. Sometimes.

There is a Mommy Hack though that we use to make sure I get enough sleep.

Charley's Mommy Hack # 1: Make the Baby and the Daddy fall in-love with each other 

Since Day 1, my roommate and our daughter already shared an inseparable special bond. Baby Charley would melt into her father's arms, and the sight is just lovely.

Don't get jealous, Mommies, when this happens because that means that Baby Charley prefers her Dad to rock her to sleep. When she cries at night, my roommate is the first one to get up to pick her up; Baby Charley wants it that way, anyway, so I'm not actually complaining here.

Yes, so that means I could sleep a little longer.

Okay, a LOT longer.

Okay, so maybe this is a selfish hack, but it did get me MY sleep which prevented me from killing people the following day. I teach, so imagine the number of possible casualties If I am sleep-deprived.

Yikes!

However, on a serious note....

Charley's Mommy Hack # 2: Delegation 

Sad to say, my roommate needs to sleep, too, so I could not be the only one enjoying some Zzz's. What works for my roommate and me is task delegation. We follow a certain routine of putting Baby Charley to sleep that usually starts at around 6pm.

My roommate gives Charley her evening bath while I dry and dress her. Anyway, I'm the one who is a little picky on what she wears. That also means I put on her diaper while he cleans the mess - dirty diapers and laundry, too.

I would then prepare her evening vitamins that my husband would give her. Afterwards,  I would breastfeed her until hopefully, she sleeps. However, on occasions that she does not sleep right away, my roommate would rock her to sleep. When she finally goes to sleep, we will then have our dinner. I'll set the table while he cleans up afterwards, unless BAby Charley suddenly wakes up.

When Baby Charley wakes up in the wee hours of the night, my roommate would get her and give her to me to be fed. He would then continue his sleep until I wake him up to put Charley to sleep.




I am very fortunate because I have a very supportive husband who is also very hands-on with raising Baby Charley; with him, life is a bliss.ü