In short
- In a German panel study of 2,541 women and 2,118 men, sleep hit its low point in the first three months after birth, when mothers slept about 62 minutes less a night than before pregnancy and fathers about 13 minutes less.
- The same study found that neither mothers' nor fathers' sleep fully recovered to pre-pregnancy levels for up to six years after their first child.
- In a study that tracked new mothers with wrist monitors, total night sleep averaged 7.2 hours, but it was highly fragmented, with sleep efficiency rising from about 80% at week 2 to 90% by week 16.
- In an Israeli study of 232 couples, about 70% of mothers and 50% of fathers showed at least subclinical insomnia at assessments from pregnancy through the baby's first year.
- The NHS suggests new parents rest when the baby sleeps, share the nights with a partner if they can, and ask friends or relatives for help.
- Safe to Sleep says couches and armchairs are never safe places for babies to sleep and are extremely dangerous when an adult falls asleep while feeding or comforting a baby.
New parents get more rest by sleeping when the baby sleeps, sharing the nights with a partner, accepting help and protecting whatever sleep they do get. Research shows that parents' sleep drops sharply after a birth and takes years to fully recover, so it's worth being deliberate about it. This guide is about your sleep as a parent. Your baby's sleep safety is a separate topic, and we point you to the right sources for that below.
How much sleep do new parents really lose?
Research: moderate (what this means)New parents lose a lot of sleep, especially in the first three months. A 2019 study in Sleep followed 2,541 women and 2,118 men in a large German household panel through pregnancy and up to six years after a birth. Sleep satisfaction and duration fell sharply after childbirth and hit their lowest point in the first three months.
Compared with before pregnancy, mothers slept about 62 minutes less a night at that low point, and fathers about 13 minutes less. Mothers' sleep satisfaction fell by 1.81 points on a 0 to 10 scale, and fathers' by 0.37 points. The striking finding is how long it lasted: in both mothers and fathers, sleep satisfaction and duration did not fully recover for up to six years after a first child.
Breastfeeding was linked to a slight drop in mothers' sleep, about 14 minutes. Parental age, household income and whether there were one or two parents made little or no difference.
Why do new parents feel so tired even after 7 hours?
New parents feel tired after 7 hours because the sleep is broken into pieces. In a 2010 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers tracked new mothers' sleep with wrist monitors: 50 mothers from week 2 to week 13 after birth, and 24 from week 9 to week 16.
Their night sleep averaged 7.2 hours, more than the researchers expected, and it didn't change much over those weeks. But it was highly fragmented, which the authors compared to sleep disorders that break up sleep. Sleep efficiency improved from about 80% at week 2 to about 90% by week 16 as their sleep became less fragmented.
So if you're getting a reasonable number of hours and still feel wrecked, you're not imagining it. Our guide on waking up tired explains why broken sleep feels worse than the clock suggests.
Do fathers and partners lose sleep too?
Fathers and partners lose sleep too, though often in a different way. A 2023 study in Sleep followed 232 Israeli couples from pregnancy through the baby's first year with wrist monitors and sleep diaries. Mothers had worse sleep quality than fathers at every point, while fathers slept for shorter periods. About 70% of mothers and 50% of fathers showed at least subclinical insomnia across the assessments. Sleep quality got worse for both parents from pregnancy to four months, then generally improved from four to 12 months.
That's useful when you're splitting the nights. Both of you are running short, just in different ways, so the goal is protecting each other's sleep rather than keeping score.
What does the NHS recommend for tired parents?
The NHS has a short list of practical tips for new parents:
- Rest when your baby sleeps, even if you'd rather catch up on chores. Set an alarm if you're worried about sleeping too long.
- Share the nights if you can. If you're formula feeding, a partner can share feeds. If you're breastfeeding, they can help with nappies or dressing in the morning so you can go back to sleep.
- Once breastfeeding is going well, a partner could occasionally give a bottle of expressed milk at night.
- Ask friends and relatives to watch the baby while you nap, or to stay for a few days if you're on your own.
- Try to get some exercise, such as a daily walk with the baby.
It also offers a reassuring reminder: the phase when your baby wakes several times a night won't last forever.
General sleep advice still applies where it fits. The NHLBI suggests keeping your bedroom quiet, cool and dark, avoiding alcohol before bed, and limiting caffeine, noting its effects can last up to 8 hours. It says naps may boost alertness and performance, that adults should nap for no more than 20 minutes, and that if you have trouble falling asleep at night, you should limit naps or take them earlier in the afternoon. Our napping tips and caffeine and sleep guides go into more detail.
How can partners share night shifts?
Partners can share night shifts by giving each person one protected block of sleep. There's no research showing one system works best, so these are ideas to adapt rather than rules.
| Approach | How it works | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Split the night | One parent covers until about 2am, the other after | Each person gets one longer stretch |
| Alternate nights | One parent is on duty, the other sleeps elsewhere with earplugs | Works best with formula or expressed milk |
| Feed and settle | One parent feeds, the other does nappies and resettling | The NHS suggests this for breastfeeding families |
| Weekend catch-up | Each parent gets one lie-in or long nap each weekend | Helps when weekday work limits night duty |
Whatever you choose, talk about it in the daytime and revisit it as the baby's pattern changes. If one partner snores, the off-duty sleeper may get far less rest than the plan suggests, which is the next problem to solve.
What if a new parent starts snoring?
A new parent who starts snoring, or snores more than before, can make an already short night even shorter for the other parent. The NHS lists the basic steps for snoring: sleep on your side, try to lose weight if you're overweight, don't smoke and don't drink too much alcohol. It also says not to take sleeping pills, which can sometimes cause snoring, and suggests the partner try earplugs.
The NHS matches simple devices to causes. Nasal dilators or strips can help when the nose is blocked or narrow, and a device that keeps the mouth closed can help when it falls open during sleep. Some parents try the Titan Sleep System, which pairs nasal strips with mouth tape, so the off-duty partner gets a quieter stretch.
These products are for adults only. Never use them on a baby. We don't recommend mouth tape for children. If you're pregnant or have recently given birth, ask your midwife, doctor or health visitor before trying any snoring product. Our guide to snoring after pregnancy explains what research shows about snoring once the baby arrives and when to get it checked.
Check this first. Skip mouth tape and see a doctor if you snore loudly, wake up gasping, have been told you stop breathing in your sleep, or can't breathe comfortably through your nose. More on safety
Where should you get baby safe sleep advice?
Baby safe sleep advice should come from pediatric and public health sources, not a sleep product site. We don't give advice on how or where your baby sleeps. The American Academy of Pediatrics explains its safe sleep policy on HealthyChildren.org, the NIH runs the Safe to Sleep campaign, and the NHS has guidance on reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Your pediatrician, midwife or health visitor can answer questions about your own baby.
One part of that guidance is about you as a tired parent. Safe to Sleep says couches and armchairs are never safe places for babies to sleep, and that these surfaces are extremely dangerous when an adult falls asleep while feeding, comforting or snuggling a baby. It lists an adult being very tired as one of the very high-risk situations for sharing a sleep surface. If you feel yourself nodding off, follow the official guidance on what to do.
When should a new parent see a doctor about sleep?
A new parent should see a doctor or health visitor if tiredness feels like more than ordinary new-baby exhaustion. The NHS says that if you can't sleep at night even when your baby is asleep, or feel tired all the time, these could be signs of postnatal depression, along with feeling down or hopeless and not enjoying things you normally enjoy. It advises talking to a GP or health visitor as soon as possible.
For snoring, the NHS says to see a GP if you feel sleepy during the day, your breathing stops and starts while you sleep, or you make gasping or choking noises, since these can be signs of sleep apnea. A partner is often the one who notices, and new parents are awake at night more than most. A nose that stays blocked for weeks is worth a check too. Our guide to sleep apnea warning signs has the full list, and how much sleep adults need covers the long-term targets to get back to.
Our pick (paid partner): Titan Sleep System
If a snoring parent is cutting into the other's precious sleep, our pick is the Titan Sleep System, for adults only. We haven't tested or ranked products ourselves, and Titan's products weren't used in any of the studies above; this is our recommendation. If you're pregnant or postpartum, check with your clinician first.
Titan says the system combines TitanAir Nasal Strips and Titan Bamboo Silk Mouth Tape as one nightly routine. It describes the strips as drug-free external nasal dilators with flexible spring-loaded bands, placed just above the flare of the nostrils, and the tape as a bamboo silk strip worn horizontally across the lips. Titan suggests 20 to 30 minutes of daytime practice with the tape before the first night.
Titan says every batch is third-party tested and certified PFAS-free. Its 30-night guarantee refunds you if your sleep isn't better after 30 nights, and supplies come in 30, 90, 180 or 360 nights, which saves a trip out when the kit becomes part of the routine.
Read next
- Does pregnancy snoring stop after birth?
- Naps: how long, when, and who benefits
- How to sleep next to someone who snores
Common questions
How much sleep do new parents lose?
A lot at first. In a German study of over 4,600 parents, mothers slept about 62 minutes less a night than before pregnancy in the first three months after birth, and fathers about 13 minutes less. Sleep satisfaction dropped too, and it hadn't fully recovered six years after a first child.
How can new parents get more sleep?
The NHS suggests resting when your baby sleeps, sharing night duties with a partner if you have one, asking friends or relatives to watch the baby while you nap, and getting outside for some exercise. It also reminds parents that the phase of frequent night waking won't last forever.
How should parents split night feeds?
There's no single right system. The NHS suggests that a partner can share feeds if you're formula feeding, or help with nappies and dressing if you're breastfeeding so you can go back to sleep. Once breastfeeding is established, a partner can occasionally give expressed milk at night.
Is it normal for new parents to have insomnia?
Trouble sleeping is very common. In a study of 232 couples, about 70% of mothers and 50% of fathers showed at least subclinical insomnia at assessments from pregnancy through the first year. The NHS says that if you can't sleep even when your baby is asleep, or feel tired all the time, it could be a sign of postnatal depression.
Can I use snoring products after having a baby?
Products like nasal strips and mouth tape are for the adult only, never the baby. If you're pregnant or recently gave birth, ask your midwife, doctor or health visitor before trying a snoring product, especially if your snoring started in pregnancy or comes with gasping or daytime sleepiness.
Where can I find safe sleep advice for my baby?
Baby sleep safety is its own topic, and we don't give advice on it. Follow the guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the NIH's Safe to Sleep campaign or the NHS, and ask your pediatrician, midwife or health visitor if you have questions about where and how your baby sleeps.
Sources
- Sleep and tiredness after having a baby
- Long-term effects of pregnancy and childbirth on sleep satisfaction and duration of first-time and experienced mothers and fathers
- Normative longitudinal maternal sleep: the first 4 postpartum months
- Sleep of mothers, fathers, and infants: a longitudinal study from pregnancy through 12 months
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
- Ways to Reduce Baby's Risk
- How to Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe: AAP Policy Explained
- Healthy Sleep Habits
- Snoring
- Titan Sleep System
About this article
- Research
- 10 published sources, listed above.
- Evidence
- Moderate. How we rate it
- Last checked
- November 3, 2026
- Funding
- Paid partner of Titan Recovery. Their ads are labeled.
- Found an error?
- Tell us. We log fixes on the corrections page.
* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.