I know that the people who say “sleep when the baby sleeps” mean well, but I’m pretty certain most of them don’t quite remember what a newborn’s sleep schedule actually looks like. At first, nap time is the only chance you have to stop, look around, and pat yourself to make sure all your clothes are still on and all your body parts still in place. Though, somewhere along the way, whether it be after six weeks or six months or 16 months, you'll be able to actually get things done during nap time, I promise (as opposed to just lying on the floor, like I sometimes did).
Once our little’s sleep routine started to even out, I started to use nap time in new and exciting ways ways I never thought possible: emails, cleaning, laundry, chores, food prep, pumping, skydiving, bungee jumping, and even sometimes an occasional nap of my own. Just kidding! I'm not a good enough napper to be able to do it while my son sleeps if there isn't another adult in the house.
Now that my son is well into toddlerhood, naps are a whole new beast. He's down to just one, so you can imagine just how precious those minutes are. Here's a breakdown of what nap time productivity is like in our house: