Yes, Sleep When the Baby Sleeps

There’s an old adage out there that says “sleep when the baby sleeps” and this saying gets a lot of slack in the modern parenting world.

People respond with witty remarks like “do dishes when the baby does dishes” and “when does the baby do the laundry and sweep the floor”. They make claims they just don’t have the time to do this.

Those people do not understand the saying.

Yes, Sleep When the Baby Sleeps.

I’m a sleep when the baby sleeps parent because everything else can wait. It’s okay to sit down, hold your baby, and not do anything.

Give yourself permission to slow down and sleep when the baby sleeps.

It’s in these moments that I have the opportunity to recharge, and relax and catch up on just being present and not constantly on. Sometimes I sleep, and sometimes I just lay there soaking in the couch or the bed and just letting my mind, body and soul find peace.

Where did this need to do all the things all the time come from? There’s this crazy obsession to live a Pinterest perfect home with an Instagram worthy lifestyle, and that’s just not reality.

Reality is letting the floor stay dirty and the laundry stay in its bins while you take an hour, just like your baby, to catch up on you and your health.

Motherhood is about personal growth.

Motherhood is about being reborn, and this process is not easy. I want to encourage all the moms to just slow down and be present with your children in their moments that they need you.

My children need me to hold them when they sleep and yes, I will take advantage of every moment I have to do this. There is no amount of laundry, dishes, or floor sweeping that is more important than the warmth of my child and the peace that comes from relaxing together.

You can do this together or independently, but I often find the moments I get trapped under a sleeping baby in my arms is the universe telling me I just need to slow down and let life be. 

Last week my 3 year old told me to go away when I tried to lay down with him. They will want their independence when they are ready.

There’s a lot of ways self care can look to you, and one way it looks for me is to sleep when the baby sleeps. Self care is not manicures and massages, it’s taking time out of your life to make routines that recharge you.

I think this is where sleep when the baby sleeps come from, it’s well-meaning advice that just isn’t embraced because of the pressures to do all the things, be all the things.

Sleep when the baby sleeps means slow down mama and take time recharge just like your baby does. You don’t have to sleep, but you do need to slow down.

But what about the laundry and the dishes?

When will you get the dishes done? There’s lots of time during the day to do that. When I had a newborn I would babywear while I did the dishes, or when they became babies I would let them explore the pots and pan drawer while kept busy cleaning things.

Sure, it’s chaotic and it’s messy to do it when the kids are awake, but it’s so good for your mind and body to take time to rest and the only time to really do that is when the kids do it.

I have no science to back my thoughts but I think it’s probably a good thing for kids to watch us do all the chores and things it takes to keep the house running. When they do become curious and old enough to help, I can only imagine it will enforce a stronger understanding of the runnings of a house because fairies don’t clean the house when we go to bed.

Sleep when the baby sleeps because you’re only one person, and the dishes they can wait.