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Ah, those beautiful and perfect newborn days. Where the days blend into the nights and time seems to just stand still. As you marvel over the tiny perfect human you now get to call yours, nothing else seems to matter–and it doesn’t!
I remember when we brought Rosy home from the hospital. Although she never was a sleepy baby like all of the other babies I had ever known, she was content to lay in my arms and look up at us and we at her for hours!
As a first time mama, I didn’t know what to expect.
Sure, I had babysat lots of babies and knew all of the technical stuff, but there were so many things I had not ever done!
I had never slept at night with a baby just feet away.
Breastfeeding was obviously something I had never done.
I had never given a newborn a bath.
Keeping track of a baby’s schedule was foreign to me.
I had never cared for an umbilical cord.
Never had I recovered from child birth.
There were a lot of things I felt completely unprepared for as a brand new mama caring for my brand new baby. But, as cheesy as it is to say, it all worked out.
It was almost like my natural instinct kicked in and soon enough, I was in a groove. What I didn’t know or had not figured out I would ask someone else for help.
I’m sure my google search history from those first few weeks would be hilarious to look back at. Probably full of things like, “Normal newborn baby poop” and “Spit up colors”.
Believe it or not, even though you are covered in bodily fluids of your own and your new baby, it really is the happiest and sweetest time. I would go through the entire process 1,000,000 times just to get a few more of those newborn sniffs.
Needless to say, when I get to become a second time mama, I plan on doing a few things differently.
Something that worked out really well for us, was going by some of the principles laid out in the book Babywise by Gary Ezzo. In his book, he outlines the idea of eat, wake, sleep cycles.
1. Eat
As soon as the baby wakes up from their nap, (or you wake them up if it is time) you feed them. Since I breastfed Rosy, I would nurse her immediately after she woke up. Usually she was still drowsy from being asleep, but would wake up more as she nursed.
This was incredibly helpful because it enabled her to take full feedings. She would usually nurse for 30-40 minutes. If she ever did happen to start nodding off before she was finished, I would burp her and switch sides or burp her and try and get her to finish nursing.
2. Wake
This part is exactly like it sounds. You keep your baby awake, stimulating them. Talking to them, letting them look at you, showing them toys, or doing tummy time are all perfectly appropriate things here. The main thing is, you want you baby to stay awake for at least a few minutes.
After a little bit, Rosy would always start to yawn or close her eyes and I would take that as her cue that she is ready for a nap, which leads us into the final stage of the cycle.
3. Sleep
I would then swaddle her in a blanket or a HALO sleepsack swaddle, give her a pacifier and put her down in either her DockATot or Rock and Play while she was still awake. She would then nap until the next cycle should start. When it was time for her to eat, I would wake her up and start again!
Using these principles, Rosy was able to put herself to sleep by just a few weeks old. That is definitely something that I didn’t really understand the value of until a few months later. Nap times and bedtimes are a breeze thanks to her not having to be rocked, held, or nursed in order to fall asleep.
Another thing that really helped during the newborn phase was keeping a schedule.
Babies grow fast, and so do their needs and their schedules. Here is the schedule that we kept with Rosy during weeks 3-12.
6AM – Wakeup and nurse
7 AM – Walk outside and nap in stroller
8:30-9AM – Nurse
10AM – Nap in Rock-n-Play
12PM – Nurse
1PM – Nap in DockATot
3PM – Nurse
4PM – Nap in DockATot
6PM – Nurse
7PM – Last nap of the day in DockATot
9PM – Nurse
9:30PM – Bathtime (we use all lavender products at bathtime)
10PM – Nurse and down for the night
*Rosy would nurse on demand which usually ended up being every 3-5 hours through the night.
Keeping a schedule kept Rosy from confusing her days and nights. If she was going to sleep a longer stretch, it naturally happened at night, because she was woken up to eat through the day. It also helped me to keep my sanity!
Obviously there were some times that we couldn’t stick to the schedule exactly, but for the most part we planned our day around her.
It was so worth it to always know that she was always well-rested and not hungry.
The newborn stage is a hazy and beautiful time.
Before you know it, you will be remembering the days that your baby ate around the clock and napped a million times a day. They really are some of the best times!
Using the eat-wake-sleep cycles and implementing a schedule are two of the things that gave us some structure during this time. We are also really reaping the benefits of these things now since Rosy goes to sleep SO well.
I hope this was helpful!
Here are some links to some of the items I mentioned in this post. Again, these are affiliate links, meaning, that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
