Getting sleep is the ultimate struggle when it comes to life with a newborn. Many new parents say that they could handle caring for a new baby and postpartum life in general much better if they were able to get a good night’s sleep! While every baby is different and every family is unique when it comes to how they tackle overnights, there are some tips and tricks that are universal. Here are some of our favorites!
Feedings
Wake baby every 2-3 hours during the day to ensure they are getting the calories and food that they need during the day. If they are getting their needed caloric intake throughout the day, hunger won’t wake them as much overnight. Always listen to your provider and lactation consultant when it comes to how long baby’s stretches in between feeds can be before extending time between feeds overnight.
The dream feed can also be helpful in extending the time between feeds overnight. Wake baby before you settle into bed yourself for a top off and a final feed of the night, even if it is before when your baby is ready for a full feed. If you give your baby even just a top off before going to sleep yourself, it extends the time until your baby is ready to eat again and hopefully allows them to have a long stretch of sleep. Usually the first stretch of sleep overnight is the longest and deepest sleep anyway,
Change then feed! Changing baby’s diaper can wake and disrupt them so it is easiest to change them before feeding them overnight, allowing the feed to soothe them back to sleep. During the day, you can switch to doing feeds and then diaper changes during the day to extend the baby's wake windows.
Preparing for overnight feeds for convenience! If you are doing bottle feeds, prep all the bottles you expect to use before bed. If breastfeeding, keep everything you need within arms reach.
Warm bottles! You do not need to warm bottles for your baby all the time. In fact, its recommended that you don’t warm every single bottle you give your baby as they can then develop a preference and reject room temp or cold bottles in the future. However, warmed bottles are great for overnight feeds and helping baby sleep soundly. Think of how you feel after a hot bowl of soup or cup of tea!
After a feed, get some baby snuggles in!! After baby finishes eating, we always want to burp to help make baby as comfortable as possible and even just holding baby upright on your chest for 5-10 minutes after they finish can really help them with digestion! Not only will this help with making sure their food stays down, but your warmth, smell, and presence is soothing and calming for both you and baby! This will help them fall asleep and allow you some time to enjoy quality time with your baby.
Creating a Cozy Environment
Crank up the white noise! It is very loud in the womb and babies are used to being surrounded by the sounds of our bodies. White noise helps to recreate the soundscape that is comforting for babies (this is also why we instinctively “shush” babies, we recreate the sound of blood rushing).
Swaddle! Newborn babies loved to be swaddled because not only does it calm the startle reflex (which is what causes a sleeping baby to wake up when you put them down), but it also recreates the tightness and warmth of the womb. You can swaddle baby with one or both arms free if their biggest hunger cue involves them chewing on their fingers, but they sleep best with both arms at their sides.
Nightlights or even red lights are best to use for overnights as it is very loud in the womb but quite dark. A lot of newborns are able to sleep through noise but can wake up to the flip of a light switch very easily. Place nightlights in bedrooms and nurseries or you can use a red light bulb for overnight. Any light that baby does see in the womb is red and very subtle, so they are used to sleeping with that.
Black out curtains can help your baby sleep in once the sun starts to rise.