Keep Night Feeds Dark
Its normal for your baby to wake up and feed several times a night for the first few months. The trick is to feed him and get him back to sleep ASAP.
To do this, avoid turning on bright or overhead lights during a night feeding. Use a soft nursing light so you dont have to turn on any other artificial lights. Keep the room dark as you feed, with just enough light for you to get baby to the glider and back to bed safely.
Practice Good Sleep Hygiene
Good sleep hygiene can help you get more rest, whether or not you have a newborn at home. Strategies include:
- Avoiding caffeine: This stimulant can interfere with your sleep cycle.
- Not using electronics before bed: You may want to post the latest pictures of your baby on social media, but using mobile phones, tablets and computers at night can interfere with total sleep time, says Pien, adding that the light from electronic devices can confuse your body clock.
- Sticking to a regular sleep schedule: As difficult as this sounds as a new parent, try to turn in and wake up at the same time every day. Just keep in mind that with a baby, you need to be flexible and expect nighttime awakenings.
Your Baby Is In The Middle Of A Developmental Change
If youve tried everything else and your little one is still struggling, they may be in the middle of a transitional period like a sleep regression or developmental leap. Be patient. These sleep-related issues are temporary, and consistency is key.
If youve made all of these modifications and your baby is still having a hard time falling or staying asleep, you may want to talk to their doctor. Some health conditions, like reflux, can affect a childs sleeping habits.
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When Should You Start Having Playtime With Your Newborn
From the first moment you hold your newborn you are engaging their senses. They peer up at your face, hear your voice, and feel the warmth of your skin. These simple connections are the very beginning of what can count as play in the early newborn days.
In the first month or so it may seem that your babys interests are mostly limited to eating, sleeping, and pooping. But you may also notice that they perk up and turn their head toward familiar voices or try to focus their eyes on a toy when you give it a rattle or squeak.
It may be hard to imagine, but by the second month they may be holding up their head when placed on their tummy to look around. And by the third month, youre likely to see consistent smiles and hear sounds that seem like their attempt to communicate with you.
While they arent able to tell you in words that theyre having a good time, youre likely to notice signs that your baby is ready for and interested in playtime each day. While they spend a lot of time sleeping youll start to see times when theyre awake and alert, but calm.
During these times when they are receptive to interaction you can start to engage in some simple games and activities.
What Do You Do When You Find An Abandoned Baby Raccoon
Sometimes, baby raccoons and mother get separated due to different reasons. If you bumped into a baby raccoon in your property without its mother, the first thing you need to do is access its well-being. Check if:
- The baby is cold or lethargic
- Is the baby raccoon coat patchy or matted?
- Is its head tilted?
Also Check: How Are Newborn Babies Supposed To Sleep
How Much Sleep Do Babies Really Need
The amount of sleep your baby needs varies, depending on their age. Newborns nap a lot, with most averaging 14 to 17 hours sleep in a 24-hour period. However, this sleep is inconsistent and broken up, particularly over the first few weeks when babies wake for frequent feedings.
Things settle a bit as your baby nears their second and third month. Most infants can sleep for 6 hours a night, for example, by 12 weeks. But even as night sleep solidifies, infants and toddlers still need naps.
In fact, according to the Childrens Hospital of St. Louis, daily naps for children are essential for good days and good nights.
Outdoor Activities To Do With Newborns
When itâs a beautiful warm day, why not spend some quality time with your baby during a walk or at the local park or playground. Remember that your newborn should not be exposed to direct sunlight, so you’ll need to find a shady spot to enjoy the outdoors. Thereâs plenty you can do together outside â here are just a few ideas:
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Go for a walk. Put your little one in a stroller or a baby carrier, making sure she is dressed appropriately for the temperature, and has the shade of the canopy and a wide brimmed hat if itâs sunny out. Getting outdoors can be stimulating for your baby, and also gets you moving. As your little one grows you can start pointing out all the things you see to your baby.
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Tummy time in the backyard or park. Lay a comfortable blanket down on a safe area â grass in your yard or in an area of the park free from anything like sharp stones â and give your baby a little tummy time outdoors.
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Read to your little one in the fresh air. Reading with your baby is a good activity no matter where you are, but when the weather is nice, grab a book and a picnic blanket and find a good place to settle down together for some story time.
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Play with bubbles. Blow some bubbles into the air and let your baby watch them. Babies love to watch bubbles, and itâs fun to do this outside on a nice day! Just remember to blow the bubbles away from your baby so the soapy water doesnât get in your newbornâs eyes or on her sensitive skin.
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Set Up An Optimum Sleep Environment
Set up your babys nursery for an optimum sleep environment to help your baby when falling asleep and stay asleep. Use blackout curtains to keep the room pitch black and a good sound machine to muffle outside noises. If youve read any of my other posts, you know I am obsessed with the !
The temperature of the room is also important for babys safety and comfort. I was a nutcase about the temperature in Evelyns nursery after she was born, so I get it. Most experts agree the room a baby sleeps in should be between 68 and 72 degrees F. Make sure your baby is dressed comfortably for the temperature.
A Newborn Routine That Works Every Time
Want peaceful school mornings and afternoons without power battles and nagging? Simple School Routines can help!
What’s in this post…
If youve been going around a tired mom like a chicken with your head cut off, heres a good sample newborn routine for you. I think itll go a long way in helping you survive the newborn phase.
Sample Routines:
Id like to start off by saying that I feed my baby when he is hungry. I love routine and think theyre great, and we work towards a routine each day.
But even if its off schedule, I feed my babies when they are hungry. In case you are a troll. Or a routine hater. Or about to send me hate mail.
I just wanted to tell you.
Read Also: What Temp Should Water Be For Newborn Bath
When Your Baby Wakes At Night Take Care Of You
While there are strategies you can incorporate into your days and nights to help your baby ease into nighttime sleep cycles, many babies will grow out of this stage as their bodies mature and develop. In fact, it may be more beneficial to find coping strategies for a sleep-deprived parent in these early weeks rather than fighting against your newborns internal clock .
Its not you
What Are The Different Alert Phases Of A Newborn
Babies also have differences in how alert they are during the time they are awake. When a newborn awakens at the end of the sleep cycles, there is typically a quiet alert phase. This is a time when the baby is very still, but awake and taking in the environment. During the quiet alert time, babies may look or stare at objects, and respond to sounds and motion. This phase usually progresses to the active alert phase in which the baby is attentive to sounds and sights, and moves actively. After this phase is a crying phase. The baby’s body moves erratically, and he or she may cry loudly. Babies can easily be overstimulated during the crying phase. It is usually best to find a way of calming the baby and the environment. Holding a baby close or swaddling may help calm a crying baby.
It is usually best to feed babies before they reach the crying phase. During the crying phase, they can be so upset that they may refuse the breast or bottle. In newborns, crying is a late sign of hunger.
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When To Start A Baby Schedule
If you are going to try a baby schedule, I suggest you wait until they are about a month oldor until feeding is going really well. Trying to implement a baby schedule earlier is, well, pointless. Fresh-to-the-world babies are just getting used to life outside of the womb. Day is night. Night is day. Plus, newborns dont crave schedules yet. Instead, all they want is to experience the sensations theyre used to from the womb. Your job? Be an A+ womb impersonator by offering a healthy dose of the 5 Ss, which are designed to transition babies into their fourth trimester. The 5 Ss include Swaddling, Shushing , holding in the Side or Stomach position, and Sucking.
Feeding Is The Hardest It Will Ever Be
When moms of older kids dreamily tell you how much they “loved, loved” nursing their infants, they are not talking about the first seven days.
If youre breastfeeding, take it one step at a time. Your goal right now is to get your baby to latch on correctlylips flipped out,chin close to your breast, jaw and ear moving slightly in a rhythmic motion as she sucks, says Laura Jana, M.D., a pediatrician and author of Heading Home With Your Newborn. While some tingling or irritation at latch-on is common for the first week or two, the nursing session shouldnt hurt.
- RELATED: How to Breastfeed: Nursing 101
If your breast or nipple hurts or youre concerned about your supply, talk to your doctor and consider hiring a lactation consultant to show you different ways to latch and see whether your baby is eating enough. Check if the hospitals specialist is available, or find one at ilca.org.
Keep in mind that milk can come in anywhere from 36 to 72 hours after birth, and for some, it could take four to five days.This can happen for a number of reasons, including gestational diabetes, a long, stressful birth, or a cesarean.
While youre waiting, continue offering your breast to stimulate milk production. Lisa Marasco, a lactation consultant in Santa Maria,California, explains: Your body expect your baby to be at the breast very soon to start suckling. If that doesnt happen, you can mimic the baby with hand-expression and pumping to get the milk going sooner.
Also Check: Why Does My Newborn Cry All The Time
Coping With Disturbed Nights
Newborn babies invariably wake up repeatedly in the night for the first few months, and disturbed nights can be very hard to cope with.
If you have a partner, ask them to help. If you’re formula feeding, encourage your partner to share the feeds. If you’re breastfeeding, ask your partner to take over the early morning changing and dressing so you can go back to sleep.
Once you’re into a good breastfeeding routine, your partner could occasionally give a bottle of expressed breast milk during the night. If you’re on your own, you could ask a friend or relative to stay for a few days so you can get some sleep.
If You Are Breastfeeding You Are Likely To Get More Sleep If You Keep Your Baby Nearby
The World Health Organization recommends that babies share a bedroom with their parents, and its a recommendation that makes breastfeeding less disruptive. A recent study found that breastfeeding women got more sleep when they co-slept with baby . In fact, mothers who co-slept and breastfed got more sleep than did mothers who bottle-fed their babies .
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Should I Swaddle My Newborn During The Day
New parents have a million and ten questions about their newborn baby and a lot of them have to do with sleep. Because sleep is crucial to your newborns growth in so many ways, knowing not just when to let them sleep, but how and where, can take a minute to figure out. Sleep plays an important role in brain development, regulating their emotions, and learning, in general, so its important to establish a routine around sleep fairly soon. Thats where swaddling comes in. Swaddling means wrapping up baby in a breathable, lightweight blanket and into a tight little baby bundle so that they feel calm and get better quality sleep. But this creates even more questions like should I swaddle my newborn during the day and if so, then how long to swaddle newborn during the day and when it comes to naps, even more Qs arise like, should I swaddle baby for naps? Keep reading as we break down swaddling, naps, and more, below!
How To Reunite An Injured Baby Raccoon And Mother
Sometimes, during nursing, a baby raccoon can fall out of its nest and get separated from the rest of the litter. If you spot such a raccoon, first check if it is injured, in case it isnt, the best possible option is getting it back to its mother. Raccoons just like most mammals make excellent mothers and will come back looking for its baby if given a chance. An adult female raccoon will take care of its baby better than any human or wildlife care center could do.
Wear protective clothing, and safely secure the raccoon into a cardboard box with a heat source. Place it as closely as possible to where the baby raccoon was discovered. In case there is a tree in the vicinity, place it at the base of the tree. Raccoons will rarely nest at trees, placing it next to a building or structure will work too. If you know where the raccoon nest is, place the box near the raccoon trail leading to the nest. During this process, do not wear perfume or have any fragrance that will deter the mother raccoon away.
If you live in a noisy area, you could leave a sign next to the cardboard box, letting others know that the baby raccoon is waiting for its mother. Alternatively, you could take the baby and place it in a dark, secure location until sunset when everything cools down. Remember, you need to leave the baby raccoon out for a single full night to give the mother a chance to find it.
Recommended Reading: Can Newborn Babies Sleep On Their Side
What Else Should Newborns Wear To Daytime Naps
While every baby is different, most babies seem comfortable in just a short sleeve onesie underneath their swaddle but it really depends on the outside temperature. Check the TOG rating on your babys swaddle to have a better sense of what they should wear underneath. A high TOG rating means it can be used for cold weather and cool nights, while a low TOG rating means it is best used in warmer temperatures. Another suggestion is to dress baby in one extra layer of clothing that you may be comfortable in.
How Will I Tell If The Baby Raccoon Is Injured Or Needs My Help
A baby raccoon needs your help if:
- It is presented to you by a cat or a dog
- You can see there is evidence of bleeding
- You spot an apparent or obvious broken limb
- The baby raccoon is shivering
- There is a dead parent nearby
- The baby raccoon is wandering and crying all day.
If you find a baby raccoon in any of the above conditions, the first thing you need to do it to keep it contained. This gives you time to figure out how you will help it. Its important to wear protective clothing before handling any raccoon even at a tender age. If you are unsure of how to handle it, call our raccoon removal Scarborough service to help you out.
Approach the baby raccoon from behind and drop a towel on the animal, make sure it covers the body as well as the head and immediately place it in a container. Seal or cover the container to prevent it from getting away.
Also Check: Why Do Newborns Sleep So Much
Does The Family Ever Get To See The Newborn On This Routine
In a word: no.
Not really anyway.
My family always jokes, When are you going to let the baby come out of its room? and I reply smiling, In a month or two! 🙂
Aside from the germs aspect, babies can be overstimulated very easily.
People who are far removed from the baby world think its normal to talk very very loudly and try to wake the baby up to see the color of its eyes.
Its like I mean just no.