There’s no way to sugarcoat it: A whopping 67 percent of American women, regardless of whether they’re a parent, have trouble sleeping¹. If you’re one of the lucky women who has never experienced sleep issues before becoming a mom, when you have a baby, you might be surprised that lack of sleep can be an issue.

Not every new parent is going to experience major sleep issues, of course. But here is the cold, hard truth: Parenthood brings sleep interruptions galore, especially in the first few months. One study shows that more than half of parents report losing two or more more hours of sleep for about the first 12 weeks² of their baby’s life. Another study indicates that “socioeconomically disadvantaged/racial/ethnic minority mothers” typically face ongoing sleep disruptions at 5 months postpartum, with fewer than half getting the recommended seven hours of sleep per night³.

Sometimes, the sleep interruptions are:

• Practical: Your baby has middle-of-the-night needs to address.
• Biological: Your regular circadian rhythms are disrupted due to inconsistent bedtimes and waking times⁴, which prevent you from getting deep sleep.
• Physical: Pain or discomfort stemming from pregnancy, labor, or postpartum conditions such as mastitis makes it hard to rest, let alone sleep.
• Routine-oriented: Without good sleep hygiene, you are having a hard time falling or staying asleep.
• Psychological: Parents with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are significantly more likely to suffer from sleep deprivation⁵.
• Hormonal: A mother’s hormone levels significantly change during pregnancy and after delivery. Oxytocin alone can keep a mom on heightened alert.

Sometimes, of course, you’ll experience a combination of these sleep interruption factors, along with a running (and increasingly long) list of to-dos in your brain that makes it hard to snooze.

Try not to worry. Postpartum sleep struggles don’t necessarily signal a new and permanent state of affairs. This guide is designed to provide you with a better understanding of why you need sleep (and what qualifies as adequate sleep for parents of infants), what can keep you awake (beyond baby-related interruptions), how to better prepare for and optimize the sleep you do manage to get, and what to do when all your valiant efforts still result in #sleepfail.

Why is sleep so important?

Before we dig into how to repair broken-up sleep cycles, it’s worth looking into why sleep is important in the first place. We innately know that we feel better when we get enough sleep—and worse when we don’t. The most obvious red flags of insufficient sleep show up in mood changes (irritability) and cognitive function (forgetfulness, poor concentration).

Proper and adequate sleep also keeps us healthy in ways that aren’t as obvious. As behavioral sleep medicine psychologist Dr. Shelby Harris says, “Sleep at night is meant to make our days better.” If it’s not, we need to look at why we aren’t sleeping—and how to turn things around.

What’s keeping me awake?

We talked to Dr. Shelby Harris about what happens during the pregnancy and postpartum periods, as it pertains to sleep. Sleep interruptions abound when you’re taking care of a baby with needs around the clock, but there’s more to perinatal sleep issues than infant care. Your hormones are working for you and your baby, but against you and your sleep cycles. Rest assured, there are things that you can do to get better sleep when seemingly all else has failed.

Hormones and baby needs aside, interpersonal and environmental factors can also impact your sleep. These short audio excerpts highlight one parent’s issues with being exhausted, staying asleep, and attempting to coordinate the sleep schedules of multiple children.

You’re not alone in your quest for a good night’s sleep as a new parent. You’re basically renegotiating sleep and your relationship to it. To adapt to these changes, you’ll need some tactics and strategies. But if your child is sleeping better, and you are not, then it’s time to get some help.

How do I optimize my naps?

With time being a precious resource, and sleep being a coveted activity, it’s great to approach naps with a little planning and everything you need at the ready. A healthy mind-set can translate into new habits.

How do I improve my nighttime sleep?

Improving your relationship with sleep likely means taking a multipronged approach. Here are some tools to implement simultaneously—or one at a time—depending on your situation and needs.

These short audio excerpts can help you better understand your struggles with sleep and how they can impact your relationships.