Insomnia

Insomnia can be awful for new moms (or anyone really).
I found it so frustrating when I was wide awake during one of the rare chances I could get to sleep, while baby was dreaming peacefully. I was missing my sliver of a chance to sleep and it was driving me crazy!

Insomnia is thinking, planning, daydreaming, worrying. It is a result of being in the mind. It can be fun, if your day is filled with the doldrums of cleaning and chores, to escape into a more creative head space. However just like partying all night there is a cost - next day fatigue and grumpiness. And if you are a new mom and you are missing precious sleep you may feel like you are going a bit insane - and you are correct, sanity and sleep go together hand in hand.

Short term fix:

I found a new technique to get out of my head and back into my heart, which is the perfect place to be to drift off into a peaceful sleep. Get up - get a piece or two of paper. Write down things you are thankful for until you fall asleep or are so sleepy you can't write anymore. The first time I tried this I filled 2 pages and promptly went to sleep. If you can't control where your mind goes, the physical act of writing will keep it trained on gratitude, which will turn your mind off and keep you in a loving heart space which you can drift off to sleep in. Let me know if it works for you like it works so well for me!

Long term fixes 

1. Learn to master the mind with meditation. Be able to control your thoughts from becoming worried or from going to a "planning" place. Practice is key here, it's not easy but it is simple.

2. Exercise 4 hours before bedtime, every day, for 10 minutes. After a while, move it up to 20 minutes. There is a sleepy window that occurs 4 hours after exertion - use it to your advantage.

3. Give up on others. Just worry about yourself and baby. They'll survive.

Which Famous Baby Am I? - Shower game

I love the game Who Am I for a party - it's casual and non intrusive.

When guests arrive, put a the name of a famous baby on their back on masking tape. They should not be able to see which name is written on the tape. If they choose to play, they can guess who they are by only asking yes or no questions to the other guests. Once they guess successfully they can move their tape to the front. It's a great ice breaker when bringing lots of different people together - gets people mingling.

If you have any additions to the list below please do post them!

Famous Babies:

Muppet Babies

Roo from Winnie the Pooh

Baby Bear from Goldilocks

One of the 101 Dalmation puppies

Bambi

Trixie from Hi & Lois

Baby Smurf

The Fox and the Hound

Rosemary's Baby

Hugs and Tugs from the Carebears

Thumbelina

1996 Internet Dancing Baby

Ike from TV Show South Park

Baby in the Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin

Babe the pig in the Movie Babe

Babe Ruth

Gerber Baby

Sweet Pea from Popeye

Baby Jesus

Baby Brent from Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs

Shirley Temple

Spawn of Octomom

Olsen Twins

Louise Brown, first test tube baby 1978

Stewie from Family Guy

Suri Tom Cruise's Baby

Maggie Simpson

Shiloh (Brad and Angelina)

Apple (Gwenyth Paltrow)

Knox & Vivienne (Brad and Angelina)

Maddox (Brad and Angelina)

Coppertone Baby (Jodie Foster)

Baby Shrek

Pebbles

Bam bam

The baby at the end of 2001 a Space Odyssey

Limberg Baby

Dionn Quintuplets

Baby Moses

Baby who survived the Frank Slide

Baby from the Munstsers

Baby from the movie Labrynth

"Avery Brown" Murphy Brown's Baby

Where do I get clothes hangers for kids?

Some dollar stores carry them. Beware the very tiny crappy ones. They are only for the teeniest of clothing.

Ikea also has them, 8 for 2.99, which works out to .38 each

update: London Drugs also has them for .35 each

Sleep When The Baby Sleeps

You've heard the advice numerous times already but until you go through the first month of someone's life you will not realize how important it is: "Sleep when the baby is sleeping."

Little did you know that the marathon of pregnancy and birth was to continue. The first six weeks of baby's life is pure torture for most new parents, intermixed with the bliss of your new love (if you've bonded right away). It is physically excruciating, which can range from feeling dog tired to feeling like a walking zombie to feeling so tired that you want to throw up. Then there is your mental health. Sleep is a necessary ingredient for sanity. I was awful to my husband, and he to me. Some of the worst moments of my life were at 4 am, with a crying or brightly awake baby in my arms. The world felt like it was crumbling around me. Have I freaked you out yet? I don't mean to scare you. There are also plenty of tears of joy in those first beautiful weeks - it is an incredible and beautiful journey. However, if you are not one of those rare parents with a baby that sleeps through the night right away, how can you ease the pains of this first month?

1. Help! Get as much help as you can. As a first time parent, it may seem weird to demand help from visitors but if your visitor has had their own baby they know what you're going through and would gladly oblige a chore for a peek at the new baby. Tell them you would have time to entertain them for a short while if they would help you with a load of laundry, a walk for the dogs, a meal, a massage, sweeping the floors, etc. You can also post this into your baby arrival email announcement so that you don't have to tell each one individually, and everyone is clear on your boundaries. Visitors that don't help in some way can really put a drain on you in these early days so be firm, or if you are too soft, have someone else orchestrate this for you! Your loved ones will be more than happy to help and meet your special new being.

2. Help Part 2! What if you don't have a tribe of supporting friends and family around you to help you in the first month? Put all the money you would have allotted to a fancy crib or stoller into paying someone to help you. A post partum doula, a maid, a dog walker - all these things can help you keep your sanity during those first painful weeks.

3. Help Part 3! So you don't have friends or family close by, nor enough money to get a maid. You can however stock your freezer and pantry with as much healthy pre made food as you can.

4. What if you can't sleep? If you find that when baby arrives you are a jangle of nerves and cannot sleep when the baby is sleeping or napping, just lie down. Rest. Meditate on good thoughts and store up some energy - because you never know if baby is going to be awake all night again or not. And if you get rest AND sleep, don't feel guilty! Good grief. You're only going through one of the hardest physical and emotional times in your life right now. Everything and everybody can wait for you and baby to get through this time.

So if you've had kids, how did you make it through sleeplessness?

Did you have a tribe surrounding you to help?