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Have appropriate expectations:
- Expect your newborn to sleep most of the day and at night or even be more wakeful at night, until around two weeks of age.
- At about two weeks, your baby will become more wakeful and more difficult to get to sleep.
- Establish day versus night: To help your baby to be more awake in the day wake him to feed at least three and a half to four hourly. To help him sleep more at night keep the room dimmed and interactions calm between 6pm and 6am.
- Watch your newborn’s awake times: Your newborn baby can only be awake for 45- 50 minutes between sleeps during the day for the first few weeks. This is a very short period and does not allow time for him to become over stimulated.
- Use the sensory input to prevent catnaps: Swaddle your newborn for all sleeps and play white noise. Both of these sensory inputs are soothing for newborns and result in longer stretches of sleep and less catnapping
- Sleep when your baby sleeps: The early days are an emotional rollercoaster and if you are sleep deprived, will be more difficult to manage. Sleep when your baby sleeps, go to bed early and use Rescue Remedy to fall asleep quickly after a night feed.
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