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Train your tot
If your infant is under four months, realize you won’t be getting a full night’s sleep, and just suck it up (sorry, but it’s true). Once he hits that magic age, you can borrow your friend’s dog-eared copy of Dr. Ferber, or call in the pros: Sleep consultations from Soho Parenting start at $250 (568 Broadway between W Houston and Prince Sts, suite 402; 212-334-744, sohoparenting.com).
Maximize naptime
As soon as the baby goes down for a snooze, it’s a parent’s instinct to wash the dishes or open the mail. But you should use downtime to sleep, says Joyce Walsleben, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Sleep Disorders Center at NYU Medical Center. “Even a 20-minute nap can help you perk up, especially if you do it on a consistent basis,” she says. Got a baby who only naps for short stretches? Try the “legs up the wall” yoga pose for 15 minutes, suggests Jess Phillips of Karma Kids Yoga: Lie on your back with your legs resting against a wall at a right angle to your body.
Tune out the noise
If your crying child isn’t keeping you up, chances are a police siren, motorcycle, garbage truck or posse of barhopping college kids is. “Noise pollution is definitely a big problem in the city, and it can really disturb sleep,” says Matthew Ebben, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at the Center for Sleep Medicine at Weill Medical College. To muffle those city sounds, Ebben recommends installing double windows, hanging thick curtains or—the easiest solution—investing in a white-noise machine.
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