Sleep with young kids.

How much sleep parents lose

In a German study that followed more than 4,600 parents, sleep was at its worst in the first three months after a birth: mothers slept about an hour less a night than before the pregnancy, and fathers about 13 minutes less. Neither had fully caught up even six years after a first child (Richter, 2019). That is normal, and it is not a personal failing.

Poor sleep after a birth is closely linked with postnatal depression (Bhati, 2015). If your mood stays low, or you cannot sleep even when the baby does, talk to a doctor.

Share the nights

Sharing the nights helps. When partners took on more of the night-time care, mothers slept better and had less insomnia (Tikotzky, 2015; Song, 2024). Taking turns by night, or by half-night, so that each of you gets one long stretch of unbroken sleep is a practical way to do it.

Protect what you can

Advice alone did not improve new parents' sleep in a trial with 246 first-time mothers (Stremler, 2013), while small changes to the bedroom helped some mothers (Lee, 2011), and massage and exercise improved mothers' sleep in small trials (Owais, 2018). Napping when you can has not been tested in a trial, but it costs little.

Once children are past the baby stage, bedtime routines and consistent responses to night waking work well (Mindell, 2006). For babies, follow safe-sleep guidance: on the back, on a firm, flat surface, in your room but not in your bed (Moon, 2022).

Training on short sleep

Three workouts a week is enough to keep making progress. On the morning after a very short night, lifting a little lighter or moving the session is reasonable: short sleep lowers performance (Craven, 2022).

One weaker workout does not change your plan. Perdura looks at how each lift moves over several workouts, so a tired week is not a setback.