How to Manage Newborn's Sleep Schedule
Newborn sleep can be tricky. If you are wondering how to manage your newborn's sleep schedule, there is no perfect instruction manual when it comes to your baby and his sleep. Around 4-6 hours after your baby has been born, he will take a 4-5 hour nap. This time is crucial for mom to take advantage and get a good nap in. This period of sleep will help restore energy levels after labor and give you a boost for the next few days of very frequent nursing as your milk comes in.
Every baby is different but there is a general pattern that most babies seem to follow during their first few weeks earth-side. There are some things that you can do during this time that will hopefully guide your baby to learn a good sleep pattern as he grows.
Days vs Nights: Your baby may take a week or two to figure out days and nights. To help encourage sleeping at night, keep the lights low, voices quiet and after feeding lay your baby down. A white noise machine can also be helpful. During day sleeps, keep it light in the room with some noise and in between sleep talk to your baby frequently.
Swaddle: Learn how to swaddle! Up until now your baby has been warm and snug in your womb. Swaddling can be very soothing, especially when he is tired or fussy.
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Shush: To help soothe your baby to sleep, shushing can work very well. Surprisingly, it can be quite loud! While in the womb, the sound of the blood flow is louder than a vacuum!
Sucking: Sucking is very comforting to an infant. Once your baby has established a good latch, introducing a pacifier helps satisfy this need.
Deep Sleep: When initially laying your baby down, wait until she has reached a deep sleep. This takes about 20 minutes of rocking. Watch for unclenched fists and "loose limbs". This will help your baby to stay asleep once you lay her down.
Though this period of time can be exhausting, it does get better! Remember that there is purpose in frequent waking and light sleep. The purpose of this ensures that your baby will wake to feed when hungry which is incredibly important.