In MOMMY SCIENCE I discuss the mush brain I had when I nursed my newborns.  For me, the newborn care cycle involved a two-hour round of getting up to tend the baby.  The tasks were simple enough, because he was healthy.  The interrupted sleep wore me out.  After a few days of that, I could barely think.  I thought this was a big problem.  

It meant I couldn’t work outside the home, and the inside of my house was a mess.  I didn’t like the feeling of mush brain.   The dishes in my sink would nag me, the vacuum cleaner sat in the corner with silent accusation, and my craft projects lay there, untouched.  It took an effort of will to have the kitchen table set for dinner by 10 am (a goal I’d acquired from a book).  Luckily my energy levels would be up in the afternoon enough to prepare supper.

Despite all that, in (long) retrospect and after watching other young mothers, I have begun to wonder if young mother fatigue is a feature of very early childhood, instead of a bug.  

While it is not comfortable to feel fuzzy and weak, a worn-out young mama might be more inclined to turn to the really important work of the moment:  cuddling the baby.  

The baby is only awake and alert for short periods of time, and it may look tranquil, but the internal activity of making connections and figuring things out is working away.  Every minute she spends holding the little thing, playing with it, and talking to it, helps this process along.  If the mother is too energetic at the start, she may be distracted from this great work by the tasks she once considered high-priority.  

I’ve seen a few young women whose babies may have benefited from having their mom’s ambitions temporarily tamed.  If you’re in the middle of this, be assured that healthy babies grow enough to get the capacity to sleep through the night and their parents’ energy comes back with about six hours’ uninterrupted sleep.