Happy Sleeper :: Oklahoma Newborn Photographer
Newborn sleeping patterns are rough! They are especially hard when they are upside down and backwards!!!
Newborns sleep on average 18 hours a day within the first few weeks of life. BUT they wake up often and typically don’t have long stretches of more than 4 hours. This is normal and will adjust as they grow.
There are ways to help with your exhaustion and coping to the new current norm. For me and my little family, we found a few things to help. I am not a newborn sleep expert but I am a nurse and mother! I understand both worlds and created a happy medium for my family that I love to share with my clients. Besides breastfeeding, sleep adjustments and tips are a popular conversation and question.
Here are 5 tips to help with newborn sleep and adjustment to help survive the first few weeks of parenthood and beyond.
As soon as you are discharged from the hospital, make your newborn a part of YOUR daily routine. This helps mature their circadian rhythms and adjust to their environment, 24-hour day. When it is light outside open windows and expose them to natural light patterns.
Create a routine that is specific in bedtime routine. Keep time and try to make it the same each night.
Note and track feeding times. Most babies have an evening feeding then a bedtime feeding. Evening feeding should be like their “dinner” 5pm feeding. Then they will have a big feeding right before they go down for the night.
For my boys we had a “dinner” feeding then we played, took a bath, more fun play (tummy time, read books, increased stimulation etc) then once they seemed to be hungry again and tied we had our bedtime nursing. They both were tied and had a big feeding then went to sleep for the longest stretch.
Any time they woke up in the middle of the night for a dream feeding I made sure to reduce stimulation. I would change diapers in the dim light, kept soft white noise or songs playing, rocked them while they nursed and put them right back in bed once they were back to sleep.
*** Consider when breastfeeding and giving expressed milk the times you collected or pumped. Breastmilk contains many different hormones that adjust through out the day. A natural melatonin hormone (tryptophan) rise and fall according to maternal circadian rhythms.
Practice safe sleep! Avoid unsafe practices that can be potentially harmful. Speak with your pediatrician about safe sleep practices and current AAP guidelines. https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/safe-sleep/
Back to sleep.
No blanket, stuffed animals or loose bedding in the crib. (no bumper paddings)
Use warm tight, fitted sleepers or sleep sacs that are approved by your pediatrician and age appropriate. ((We used halo sleep sacs))
Don’t co sleep.
Double check recalls on baby products, cribs, pack n plays, bassinets etc. Make sure they are approved for sleeping before you place you baby in them to sleep.
Trust your instincts!! ASK FOR HELP!
You know more about your baby than you think. If you feel like something is just not right, please reach out and find assistance.
It is OKAY to be exhausted! Watch for signs of postpartum depression. Watch your partner for signs of postpartum depression. It is not just a mother who can suffer from postpartum. Partners can struggle as well. You are not alone and there are resources to help. Family and friends as well as outside public resources that are open for assistance! Look within your community.
