{"id":58913,"date":"2020-05-15T09:47:55","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T09:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/parenting\/tips-to-solve-marriage-problems-after-baby\/"},"modified":"2023-05-15T09:47:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T09:47:55","slug":"tips-to-solve-marriage-problems-after-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/parenting\/tips-to-solve-marriage-problems-after-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips to Solve Marriage Problems After Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"ManYou’ve finally <\/span>found your significant other<\/span><\/a> and have gotten married.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a while, you decide it’s time to have a baby. Babies can light up your life and bring much joy to your family.<\/span><\/p>\n

In your daydreams, you may imagine going on family walks or bike rides, family pictures, and many laughs.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, first, you have to get through the newborn days. Marriage after baby is a different ball game altogether. Ways baby not sleeping may be ruining your marriage is abound.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, for some, that means quite a bit of sleep deprivation, with sleepless babies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the old adage “sleep like a baby” isn’t always a good thing.<\/b><\/p>\n

For some, it will mean waking up every hour or two all night long. This article will uncover how your baby not sleeping can impact (and maybe even wreck) your marriage. <\/span><\/p>\n

Often after baby marriage problems crop up. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before we delve into how to avoid marriage problems after baby, let’s plunge headlong into how things change after having  a baby.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s a look at how a baby not sleeping can impact, maybe even wreck your marriage.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Exhaustion and irritability<\/span><\/h2>\n

Almost everyone will tell you to expect some sleepless nights with a newborn.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s natural since they need to eat every 2-3 hours for the first several weeks of life. Although it might be tiring, you’re happy to <\/span>care for your newborn<\/span><\/a>. After all, this is what you signed up for!<\/span><\/p>\n

When a few weeks turns into 8 weeks, however, the exhaustion starts to reach a whole new level. And, pretty soon, your baby hits the <\/span>4 month sleep regression<\/span><\/a> and might be waking up every hour or two all night.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you pass several sleepless nights with a newborn, you might still think your baby will outgrow this and keep plugging along.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, <\/span>what you might not see right away is how the exhaustion is impacting your marriage<\/b>. And, unfortunately, babies don’t always outgrow their sleep problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a <\/span>connection between sleep and mood<\/span><\/a>. When your toddler wakes up crying at night, disrupting the sleep, you might be more irritable and short-tempered with your spouse the following day.<\/span><\/p>\n

This can often lead to more bickering and arguments. Frequent spats are one of the common marriage problems after baby.<\/span><\/p>\n

While healthy arguments are normal in any marriage, you might <\/span>find more ugly arguments occurring<\/span><\/a> than you would like.<\/span><\/p>\n

With more frequent arguments, it might mean<\/span> you feel more emotionally distant from your spouse or that you’re not on the same page. <\/b>You may argue about how to raise the baby or about other <\/span>common troubles in a marriage<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Increased jealousy<\/span><\/h2>\n

One thing you may not anticipate is your spouse can be jealous of the baby. After all, your spouse may have gotten a lot of attention from you before the baby. And now, your spouse has to share you.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is understandable and most couples will find their groove.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, <\/span>when your baby isn’t sleeping, it means one or both of you are having to tend to the baby more frequently.<\/b> Even with perfect sleep, babies need a lot of attention!<\/span><\/p>\n

Once past the newborn phase, babies are supposed to sleep around 14 hours a day. But, if you are tending to the baby for much of that time, your spouse may not feel as important or feel resentment build. This might increase the average amount of jealousy to an unhealthy level. <\/span>Jealousy in marriage<\/span><\/a> may turn out to be many of the marriage problems after baby.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the time, marriage leads to a longer life, but <\/span>stress in a marriage<\/span><\/a> can have the opposite effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Lack of couple time<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"SadWhen babies are sleeping an average of 14 hours a day, you’d think you would have plenty of couple time with your spouse. After all, many babies 4 to 12 months old will often go to bed around 7 PM. <\/span>Being friends in marriage<\/span><\/a> is important to a healthy relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, <\/span>until your baby sleeps through the night, you may not be getting the dedicated one-on-one time you might think.<\/b><\/p>\n

First, if your baby is waking every hour and you have to tend to him or her for 20 minutes at a time, your one-on-one time is disrupted and might not feel like quality time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another thing to consider is that <\/span>your spouse might be going to bed at the same time as the baby just to get more shut-eye before needing to tend to the baby again.<\/b><\/p>\n

Without an adequate amount of time as couples, you might feel more disconnected. You might <\/span>not have emotional intimacy<\/span><\/a> and can feel you are living separate lives at times. And, without emotional intimacy, oftentimes, physical intimacy is lacking, too. That is a horde of marriage problems after baby a couple can face.<\/span><\/p>\n

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