Owl or lark?
Dependent on your biological chronotype, you are likely to either be a ‘lark’ or a ‘night owl’. Larks need more sleep on the whole and have the most energy in the morning, when they tend to rise early. Whereas night owls need less sleep overall but prefer to stay up and rise much later.
Normal infant sleep behaviour reflects that of the early bird, so depending on which chronotype you are - this can impact on how your child’s sleeping habits in the early days of their life, impact on you.
If you are a couple or individual with an ‘eveningness’ chronotype, you are more likely to find normal infant sleep behaviour (‘morningness’) more of a challenge. The incompatibility of your chronotypes can understandably exacerbate how you view your childs’ sleep.
If you are lucky and are in a couple made up of one of each chronotype, then your child’s sleep patterns may be less tricky. One parent will always be having a more ‘wakeful’ period and so be able to be responsive to your child.
Simply being aware of your chronotype and how you can use this information to help you adapt to life with a baby, is valuable.
Written by Claire, IBCLC and founder of Latch.
Claire supports families with evidence-based breastfeeding and responsive sleep support and volunteers with Leeds Bosom Buddies and the National Breastfeeding Helpline.
