Sleep in the first 2 weeks

Many parents want to get their baby into a routine from very early on. This is absolutely fine and part of the job as a sleep coach, but do I encourage families to just go with the flow for the first two weeks. There is no need to get into any kind of feeding pattern, just feed on demand, let baby sleep wherever parents want him to and enjoy the snuggles. My key advice to parents for this stage is to take it slow: rest, recover, process what has happened and make getting to know your new baby your only priority. It is also a crucial time to get milk supply in and established, if breastfeeding, and lots of cuddles and skin-to-skin is key to that.

In my experience, the first few days with a newborn can go one of two ways: a baby will either be very sleepy and struggle to stay awake, or wide-eyed and struggle to go to sleep. 

For the sleepy ones:

Although there is varying advice around whether or not to wake baby to feed in the early days, in my experience waking baby and putting them to the breast every 3 hours gives baby the best chance of bringing in the milk supply. Milk works on a supply and demand basis so the more baby stimulates the breast, the sooner the milk will come in. 

For the alert babies… 

Having a newborn baby who won’t settle at all can be quite stressful, particularly if Mum has had a long and stressful labour and needs rest. Baby may be easier to settle with skin-to-skin contact and allowing them to suckle for comfort. If a baby is really struggling to sleep AT all though, then, assuming baby is medically fine, a parent may want to think about giving them a little bit of formula until the milk comes in. 

There is often much controversy around formula feeding and its relationship to the breastfeeding diet. Many breastfeeding experts suggest that giving a bottle before 6 weeks can disrupt a baby’s ability to breastfeed effectively. However, I actually believe the opposite is the case. As long as baby is continually put to the breast to stimulate milk supply, the odd little bit of formula in those first days can actually save a mum’s breastfeeding relationship. An ounce of formula could help both mum and baby get the few hours rest they need to recover and bring the supply in.