Follow these 5 tips to improve sleep in your early days with your baby.
Dr.Sears says that we can impact sleep through nutrition. I guess the saying is true—we are what we eat!
Here are 5 ways to improve your diet and help improve poor sleep.
- Drink enough water.
Dehydration affects sleep because it affects our body’s amino acids, and these amino acids are needed to create melatonin. When melatonin is disrupted, we have difficulty with sleep. It’s important to consume half of your body weight in ounces or grams every day. And when a breastfeeding mom is hydrated, her breastmilk is hydrating her baby and that helps with baby’s sleeping.
Unfortunately sugar affects your sleep. When you eat s sugary snack before bed, your blood sugar will spike and then crash. Try to skip the icecream, wine or other treat and instead eat high protein snacks and complex carbs like hummus and veggies or nut/seed/soybutter and manna bread.
3. Eat a healthy breakfast.
A healthy breakfast affects your entire day and consequently sleep. Make sure it is a nutrient dense breakfast that will start your day on a positive note and give you the energy and the brain power to keep your mood balanced too. Skip those prepared toaster waffles and go for protein based foods.
4. When eating a full meal is tough, have a smoother or salad.
Juggling newborn life is tough. It’s hard to make time for yourself. When making a full meal is not an option, try a smoothie or salad. They help reduce stress. Think of stress as a poison pellet moving through your body causing damage. Fruits and vegetables are the cure to remove those stress toxins and all the other toxins in our environment.
5. Get those omegas in (eat salmon!)
Dr. William Sears recommends that new birthing parents should eat 2 servings of wild salmon each week. They are high in omegas, which aid in healing the body, stabilizing hormones and building brain of your new baby as well (for nursing mothers). It is a real superfood! If you don’t eat salmon, you can incorporate flax into your diet or take an omega supplement.
When you follow the above 5 tips, the results will go way beyond better nights. You are creating habits that your child(ren) will observe. It will become second nature to them to eat well and look after their inner selves. You’ll have more energy throughout the day and really all your life.
A healthy diet does help sleep, but it doesn’t eliminate your newborns dependence on you. When the support of friends and family isn’t an option, a postpartum doula is a great answer. You can find the best for you—either daytime care or overnight care with a night doula.