Mothers would probably get a better quality sleep as their babies' quality of sleep improves. Babies development and bonding with mom improves with skin-to-skin touch, or as the Aussies call it, "Kangaroo Touch."

One Austrailan mother recently helped bring her premature baby (born weighing only 2.2 pounds at 27 weeks) literally back to life holding his 'dead body' on her bare chest to say her goodbyes to him. Although doctors said it was impossible that he could live, after two hours of caressing his limp body and talking to the baby, little Jamie started breathing. You can read about this miracle at:

http://www.ethicsoup.com/2010/08/mamas-are-so-important-a-touch-a-coo-can-mean-life.html

I didn’t’ need a study to tell me this! After my daughter was born, I’d sleep 5-7 times in a 24 hour period but typically only for 60-90 min at a time. I was a zombie for the first couple of months. Thank god my dear child gave up night nursing within my first couple of weeks back at work so that I was able to function!

One day my husband came home to me in hysterics because I’d “cut off our baby’s finger.” Reality = I nicked her just a bit with the nail clippers. She cried for all of two minutes. I needed about two hours to recover. I am 100% confident my reaction was the result of exhaustion and we’re still laughing about it two years later. :-)

I was very happy to have triplets, but I dont remember much of the first 6 months of thier life at home... every 3 hours i would have to start a cycle of feed one, the next, then the last, try to do some laundry or house stuff, try to sit down for 15 min, then start it all over again. daddy came home from work one day and I literally begged him to be able to go to the grocery store; after 9 hours of 1, 2 or sometimes 3 crying small people, leaving to buy a pack of gum was better then any sleep i could have gotten. :)

I think most mothers are aware that it isn't the amount of hours you sleep but the small stretches of sleep that leave you so exhausted. I highly recommend (when possible) to alternate caring for the baby at night. If possible have a spouse or another family member take one of the night feedings to give the mother a longer stretch of sleep. My husband would willingly take the night feedings one night a week (when he didn't have to work the next day) so I could have one night to recharge. Little things like the spouse taking on a night feeding (such as one early in the night around midnight or early in the morning around 4 or 5, whatever works best for him) or giving the mother one night of solid sleep can make difference.

And as important as it is for mothers to bond with their babies it is also important for fathers to bond with their babies. Fathers can feel unsure about their parenting abilities and sometimes mothers can interfere and try to push their own style and way of doing things onto fathers. Giving fathers the chance to care for the child on their own (either as we sleep or leave the house for a short period of time) provides fathers with the chance to bond with their children and to develop their own parenting style.

I've just managed to get through 3 years with a child who began by sleeping only 45-90 min at a time, then progressed to about 2 hours, now can just about get through a 4 hour stretch. I am still up and down all night and have become accustomed to sleep lack. I've had many nights, weeks, months when I've thought I might be losing my mind and have used the word "torture." My biggest fantasy is still: checking myself into a hotel. Hasn't happened yet. And in our house, dad getting up wouldn't make a difference since the house is so small, no one can get away from the screaming, crying (now toddler) sounds.