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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to rearrange your life to get a

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Speaker 1: little more sleep. We can't always get all the sleep

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Speaker 1: we want, but we can often aim to get a

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Speaker 1: few more minutes when we try. I should note here

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Speaker 1: that as I am recording this episode, I am in

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Speaker 1: a low sleep phase of my life. I have an

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Speaker 1: eight month old baby, and while I've been doing a

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Speaker 1: lot of work to get him to sleep well in

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Speaker 1: his crib, this is never a guarantee. He can wake

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Speaker 1: up at four thirty am and have trouble settling. He

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Speaker 1: can have trouble going down in the evening or wake

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Speaker 1: up in the middle of the night. Maybe you are

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Speaker 1: in a similar phase where sleep isn't a certainty. I

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Speaker 1: know that many other people face early wake ups for

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Speaker 1: work or disrupted sleep because of kids or other responsibility.

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Speaker 1: We can't always control that, which makes some of the

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Speaker 1: sleep advice out there ring a little hollow. I'm not

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Speaker 1: exactly choosing to wake up at three thirty am to

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Speaker 1: a howling baby, so I'm not that interested in advice

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Speaker 1: from people without caregiving responsibilities. That implies that a lack

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Speaker 1: of sleep is a personal failing. That said, these things

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Speaker 1: aren't either or some things are just life, but other

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Speaker 1: habits can be tweaked. For instance, I can resist the

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Speaker 1: urge to celebrate when the baby goes down by staying

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Speaker 1: up late, reading or hanging out and doing those things

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Speaker 1: that are harder to do when the baby is awake.

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Speaker 1: By going to bed soon after the baby goes to bed,

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Speaker 1: I raised the likelihood of more sleep. I don't guarantee it,

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Speaker 1: but I make it more likely. I can also set

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Speaker 1: realistic alarms in the morning. This is not the time

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Speaker 1: of life for elaborate morning routines that will come later.

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Speaker 1: Now I can take the sleep. Similarly, on days when

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Speaker 1: I have of childcare coverage, I try to leave some

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Speaker 1: open time in the afternoon. It's there to absorb extra

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Speaker 1: work or to go for a run, but if I've

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Speaker 1: had a really bad night, it can also accommodate a nap.

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Speaker 1: That's a perk of working from home. I've also realized

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Speaker 1: that I do not need to be a martyr. My

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Speaker 1: baby has two parents, and so if I've been up

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Speaker 1: a lot with the baby, my husband can take a shift,

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Speaker 1: so I can crash somewhere quiet. If you're not getting

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Speaker 1: enough sleep because of life circumstances, challenge yourself to find

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Speaker 1: a way to add a few minutes a day. No,

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Speaker 1: you are not going to discover hours, but could you

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Speaker 1: find an extra fifteen to twenty minutes? Look at everything.

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Speaker 1: Are you getting up early to do work while the

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Speaker 1: house is quiet? I get it, and it's often a

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Speaker 1: good idea, But maybe one or two mornings a week

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Speaker 1: don't do that. Are you staying up late to see

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Speaker 1: your older children off to bed? Maybe just give them

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Speaker 1: a warning that if you wake up and find them

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Speaker 1: wandering about, there will be trouble, and then get the

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Speaker 1: extra sleep that comes from trusting them. Set a relaxed

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Speaker 1: weekend schedule that allows you to nap in mid afternoon

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Speaker 1: if the night gets interrupted. Stop thinking of a certain

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Speaker 1: time is when normal people go to bed. You can

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Speaker 1: totally go to bed earlier if you like. Maybe institute

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Speaker 1: a no screens after nine pm rule. If you're bored,

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Speaker 1: you're more likely to go to bed. And while it's

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Speaker 1: hard to control a baby waking up in the middle

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Speaker 1: of the night, other disturbances can be mitigated. If you

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Speaker 1: love your partner but don't share a bed, well, well

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Speaker 1: don't share a bed. You can always enjoy some time

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Speaker 1: together before heading off to sleep separately. A white noise

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Speaker 1: machine can work wonders, as can blackout shades, and getting

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Speaker 1: physical activity and sunshine during the day increases the chances

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Speaker 1: that you'll hit bedtime tired. I love babies, but I

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Speaker 1: am definitely looking forward to better sleep when this little

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Speaker 1: guy is older. Until then, I'm doing what I can,

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Speaker 1: and maybe there are things you can do to Even

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Speaker 1: an extra twenty minutes a night can help a lot.

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Speaker 1: It's the difference between feeling frazzled and just maybe okay.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

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Speaker 1: that's b E the number four then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

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Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: a production of I Radio. For more podcasts from I

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Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H