Mom Blog and Baby Blog | Baby Bunching

the connection between (lack of) sleep and "baby brain"

A recently released study confirms what we moms have long known - that the "baby brain" attributed to sleep deprivation is a very, very real thing.  Although the study was conducted with frequently-woken mice, sleep researchers say that it's not too big of a leap to extend the findings to humans, who experience a mental fog that undermines our ability to think clearly when we have not gotten enough sleep.

When my oldest was born, I remember being shocked at how little sleep I required to function. Those first few weeks of wakings every 1-3 hours were brutal, but I was lucky that each of my little ones fell into decent 4-hour stretches by about one month.  For the most part, I found that if was able to get 5 consecutive hours of sleep and a gallon of caffeine a day, I was good to go.  Sure, I'd get tired, but when the occasional bout of infant illness or teething tossed me back into 2-hour sleep cycles, I was once again grateful for the pathetic 5-hour stretch.

As it turned out, becoming a mom has changed my sleep cycle permanently.  Never a "night owl", I found that I was able to stay up later post-baby and now my most productive hours are between 8 pm (once the kids are down) and 1 am.  As a hyper Type-A personality, I've frequently felt that sleeping, along with eating, are two of life's biggest time wasters, so I was thrilled to discover that the (lack of) sleep training I received from having 3 babies in 5 years has translated to increased productivity. I can now function on 5 hours of sleep a night instead of 8, a time savings that translates into an extra 21 hours a week!  I can do this for exactly 3 consecutive weeks - and then I crash.  

Instead of cluing in to how BAD this is for my body, I'm content to function in 3-week cycles for the sake of squeezing more work, volunteering, blogging (sometimes), and chores into my days.  Never mind the fact that my memory for details is shot, half the time I call my kids by each other's names, and I can frequently be found driving down my street with a forgotten travel coffee mug on the roof of my van.  To each their own, I say.

How has becoming a mom changed your sleep needs, for better or for worse?

babiators giveaway

Hello!  Yes, we’re still alive!  Our paid jobs ramped up for both of us right about the time that school let out for the summer, and Cara had an unexpected move thrown in, so all of that has made for a pretty crazy past few months.  We’ve totally been neglecting Baby Bunching this summer and we’ll feel pretty bad about it, so to make it up to you we’re doing a giveaway!  In the meantime, bear with us and we should be back to speed in the fall once our Bunches are back in school.

Y’all know we’re suckers for accessories (for kiddos AND moms) and our latest discovery is Babiators.  We’re willing to bet that most of you are pretty diligent about sunscreen and hats in the summer heat wave, but how many of us think about how the UV rays are affecting our little one’s eyes?  Or maybe we’ve thought about it, but blown through so many broken pairs of cheap children’s sunglasses that we’ve given up.  Enter Babiators – safe, durable, awesome eyewear for little ones ages 9 months and up.  Babiators are made of pliable rubber and designed to withstand the wear and tear of playground horseplay and twibling squabbles.  Plus, they’re BPA, phthalates, and lead-free, so no need to freak out if they creep into the curious mouths of babes.  The good folks at Babiators are so confident these shades will hold up that they even offer a one-year Wear and Tear guarantee for all Babiators.   They come in two sizes (small and large) and four colors (Black Ops, Blue Angels, Rockstar Red, and Princess Pink).  At $19.99 a pair, they’re a little pricier than we would normally spend on shades for kids, but how many broken pairs of $5 sunglasses have you had to replace?

We’ve got a pair of Blue Angels to give away and they could be yours!  Since we could use some inspiration this summer, drop us an email at [email protected] with a burning question or post topic you’d like to see in the next few weeks, and we’ll enter you in a random drawing to win theBabiators.  If you send us an ACTUAL post on a Baby Bunching topic, we’ll enter your name in the drawing ten times as thanks AND put your post up as a guest poster.  Send in your question by Friday, August 5 to be entered in the drawing!