I think this is honestly one of my favorite stages. I have always been drawn to working with those new earth side littles. Over the course of my career I have been very fortunate to work with so many great families and help get their little one(s) started off on the right path
I was hired recently by a private family to stay with a mom in the hospital, she had a scheduled c-section and needed help to care for her very new newborn while the dad remained home with the toddler for her first night until morning. This was a first for me working hands on in a hospital. I helped mom with latching assistance, I cared for the new little one, and offered my assistance when needed for other things. Usually with overnights it can be very isolating as I stay with the baby alone while parents rests so it was a nice change of pace to have some interaction and of course in a hospital this is unavoidable.
Even though this was the moms second child after talking further to her, I realized she like so many of my clients, still feel in the dark when it comes to knowledge on newborns especially those first few days and even month.
As a Newborn Care Specialist I find it my job to help keep parents informed and answer questions that may come up.
Let’s first break down those first few days together. EVERYTHING is a new sensory for your little one. In the womb they are in a perfectly tempered pool, have a good amount of white noise and of course darkness. Now once born, they are exposed to a whole new world from what they have been use too. Cold air, brightness, sounds and even something as simple as a diaper are all new feelings for them to be experiencing. Give it some time before doing a fashion show with all those cute clothes you got for them. Let them adjust to their surroundings.
Swaddling! Your newborn is still going to have that curl reflex, this is common and does work itself out. They will also be experiencing the moro reflex. Don’t worry, they will outgrow this in the coming months. Swaddle your baby up using even simple blankets provided by the hospital, be sure to keep it loose on the hips and let your baby have that feeling again they had in the womb of comfort.
Did you know that from just a few hours old you can already help to build healthy sleep habits!? In the womb your baby self soothed, they used internal tools to get themselves to sleep and go back to sleep. These are innate skills in us all. Now what happens is, they are born and they start crying so you start going through the checklist of every soothing technique you can think of and at home these props can be swings, bouncer, rocker etc… your baby calms down so you keep this going using all the props you can think of telling yourself they are so little and this is what they need.
I have something to tell you…. they don’t need that. You can practice planting good sleep habits from day 1 by simply pausing, assessing and then reacting. When your baby cries try to pause first, give them a chance to work through what they are feeling, asses their situation to see if maybe a feed is needed and then react. Don’t immediately go to your newborn, don’t immediately pickup and start rocking, swinging unswaddling etc. It is very very common for newborns to be active sleepers and this can cause lots of noises, movement and even tears. Yes tears! Talking big ol crocodile tears in their sleep. By immediately jumping to your baby’s rescue without pausing, assessing and then reacting you could actually be waking up your child and then they really will be crying because you woke them up.
Remember again.. everything is new to them. The more you do to try to get them calm the more you could be stimulating them and increasing the tears. Give each method a trying chance, a full good 15-30min, before you give up and keep introducing new things. Sometimes all your babe needs is a good reswaddle and some belly pats and space to find his/her sleep.
Skin to skin is very important for those first weeks and this can also be a soothing method. In the first few hours this contact with your baby can help stimulate prolactin and oxytocin. These two hormones help release the milk flow for nursing mothers. For new dads this is a great bonding time with the baby and gives dads a feeling of confidence as they feel chest to chest.
Studies have shown that over time long term skin to skin can have added benefits so enjoy this time with your little for as long as they will allow. During the day you can help give them this. Newborns are also able to fall into a deep sleep when skin to skin.
Feeds! Wether you are nursing or bottle feeding your newborn should be eating every 2-3hrs in the daytime. If they fall asleep and it’s close to 3hrs wake them up, change them, unswaddle them and feed them. A good feed should last 15-30min. Do what you can to keep your baby awake during this feed. From day one you can start practicing the eat, play and sleep routine. You will feed your babe in the beginning of their window and then that’s it until next.
Your freshly born babe does not have a feed to sleep association until you start introducing that prop to them. Keep those feeds in the beginning of their window and when they fall asleep, remove them from the source and try to wake them up by unswaddling, diaper change etc. If they are fast asleep then you can put them back down in their safe sleep spot and let them sleep independently.
Babies will cry. They will cry for reasons and sometimes no reasons at all. This is their only means of communication to you. Through bonding and over time you will come to know your baby’s cry’s and what he/she is needing from you.
If you are a parent to be or you currently have a very young one, I encourage you to pause, asses and then react to your baby. Don’t introduce props that already have a track record to become negative, encourage your baby’s natural independence and start from day one creating those building blocks for long term sleep success.
Now many factors at the end of the day will effect this good or bad. From food sensitivities, latching, bottles, formulas, gas, development etc there will always be outside variables you cannot control but the main ones you can.
Not sure where to start, how to start or have more questions? Please reach out. Lets schedule a call and talk more.
