Parenting is one of the most challenging (yet rewarding) adventures that life throws at us. It is a fact we’re sure many new and seasoned parents can confirm. When Player Two, Three or Four enters the game, teamwork disappears, and your away-from-keyboard time significantly reduces.
Yet, adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep per night to correctly look after their mini-me’s, which can often feel like a boss level on expert difficulty. From late-night feedings and coaxing your little one out of an incoming tantrum to changing dirty nappies and wrestling them into rompers, placing your child’s needs above your own can soon get in the way of your sleep schedule.
Fortunately, all hope is not yet lost, and there are many strategies parents can use to regain a little energy when fighting off the grips of slumber. From making a Vietnamese cold brew, revising your sleep schedule, and moving around more often, we outline some of the best ways below:
Eat/Drink For Energy
Your body runs off what you fuel it with, and although we may want to reach for the most straightforward option when feeling drained, it’s not always the best where energy is concerned. The most straightforward way of ensuring your body gets the fuel it needs is by giving yourself the most nutritious diet possible.
You can strive towards this by ensuring you consume a balanced, healthy diet consisting of the four main food groups, with an increased focus on vegetables and a lesser focus on refined fats. If you require an additional kick, you can pair this with stimulants like coffee, which has proven to make you feel more alert and energetic.
However, when you’re a parent, it’s never easy to make a trip to your local coffee shop, so it might be worth learning how to concoct your caffeinated beverage from the comfort of your home. Whether your go-to order is a Vietnamese cold brew or a pumpkin-spice latte, you can discover how to make these popular coffee orders and many more from experts like Cup & Bean. Consider heading to their website to browse their online store or stay up to date with all things coffee-related by following their blog and seeing how their tips and tricks could help you keep sleepiness at bay.
Rethink Your Sleep Schedule
If you’re a new parent, chances are you’ll sleep throughout anything for the first few years. Yet when you’re a seasoned parent, you’re much more used to exhaustion, so it can be more challenging to drift off. Either way, you’re not going to get the amount of sleep you’re used to, so it is essential that you rethink your usual sleep schedule so that you can recognize your limits and know how to optimizeyour energy levels.
Fortunately, you can rethink your sleep schedule in various ways, from avoiding screen time a couple of hours before bed and limiting your consumption of caffeinated or alcoholic drinks before bedtime to running a bath filled with sleep-inducing Epsom salts and practicing mindfulness through yoga or meditation.
Doing so is essential during the parenthood journey since your priorities shift when you have children, and your focus is no longer solely on you. As a result, you want to ensure that you are in the best state possible for providing care for your children, meaning that you want to be as rested, calm, and attentive as you possibly can – which rethinking your sleep schedule is sure to provide!
Get Yourself Moving
We all know that physical activity is vital to your child’s development. Children require up to sixty minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise daily, like their grown-up counterparts. Although moving after a less-than-adequate night’s sleep can sound like a chore, physical activity has been proven to increase your energy levels, improve your sleep schedule, and boost your mood.
Although, as a parent, you might wonder how to achieve this when it’s challenging to go for a bathroom break alone, let alone go to the gym! However, there are many ways to get your daily exercise in, even when accompanied by a toddler (or two!).
Whether you take your kids to the park and spend time playing ball games or take them on a walk to a close relative or friend’s house – there are many ways to incorporate light movement into your daily routine without needing to enlist the services of a babysitter. These small exercises add up throughout the day, and you will see improvements in your energy and mood after not too long. Not to mention your sleep schedule!
Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help
Whether you live with your partner or not, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you feel like you’re struggling. After all, parents are only human; at times, we all need an extra hand to get through more challenging days. Sometimes asking your partner, family, or close friends to occupy your little one while you catch up on a little bit of sleep can be the difference between making or breaking you – so ensure that you don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need to