The Three Hour Solution
May 21, 2006 by kate baggott
Filed under Mental Health
Exhausted, overwhelmed mothers need breaks when sleeping through the night is not an option.
Most babies can go three hours between nursing sessions and that three hours rest is often a good compromise to getting yourself back together. To implement the three hour solution, you still need the baby’s father, a mother, mother-in-law or good friend to make an afternoon commitment.
1. The moment you finish nursing, hand the baby over to be burped, changed and settled to sleep or played with in another room by someone else. If the weather allows, a nice walk to the park without you is also a good option as is a mom-less visit to a friend or relative. If you have older children too, the outing is essential so that the home will be quiet.
WARNING: After nursing, your baby is probably very cute and pleasant and you may feel like using this time to visit. Don’t.2. Go have a bath or shower. Comb your hair out, moisturize your skin, dry your hair.
3. Put on clean pyjamas or soft and cosy clothes.
4. Have a light snack. A bowl of soup or yogurt are good ideas.
5. Get into bed.
6. Read a few pages of a book or one magazine article. You don’t have to finish it.
7. Sleep.
8. Don’t wake up until your spouse, friend, mother, etc, brings you a very hungry baby. Nurse in bed.
The first time I did the three hour solution, I felt like I had been sleeping for hours and hours. It was actually only 45 minutes, but they were a great 45 minutes.
Excellent, excellent advise. I wish I’d seen that when I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when my kids were about 4 months old.
Hey,
I appreciated your comment on DotMoms! And what a find your site is as well. I enjoyed reading all your great tips, particularly from your latest posting. I especially enjoyed #7.
I can prevent one other woman from dissolving into tears of frustration and worry…
Amber, thanks for coming by. I am a dotmoms fan.
I am a believer in nursing on demand, never on a schedule, but I also think it’s important to let Dad be involved in the childcare, and other family members as available, and I think moms need to take advantage of whatever help they can get. Now that my kids are older (4 years, and 17 months) my husband takes the kids out on “adventures” to the store or the park or the mall, and that time gives me a much needed break. My first child could not handle much time away from me – she was “high needs” – but my second is much more capable of going long periods without nursing. Time alone is so necessary to recharge, and to be happy to see the kids (and husband!) again.
Rest isn’t all emotion. It is essential for mothers. It can be the single thing that staves off ppd, opportunistic viruses and mastitiis.