2 minute read
Two-thirds of couples dip after a baby. It’s reversible.
Sleep loss, the load, and lost couple time drive the drop. Small, regular connection brings it back.
In the Gottmans’ Bringing Baby Home research, about 67% of couples reported a significant fall in satisfaction in the three years after a first child. It is normal. It is also not permanent.
The couples who recovered did three things: they kept a five-minute daily handover, they noticed and answered bids even when exhausted, and they protected tiny pockets of couple time rather than waiting for a big night out.
Both partners grieve the old couple. Saying so out loud helps more than pretending nothing changed.
A five-minute handover: what happened, what’s coming, one thing that went well.
Where this comes from: Gottman & Gottman, And Baby Makes Three; Bringing Baby Home programme.
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