Can I Help My Newborn Sleep?

Why does it feel like my newborn is drinking ALL. NIGHT. LONG. ⁠
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News Flash🗞️! Newborns are not supposed to sleep! ⁠
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While a newborn baby is not yet physically ready to sleep through the night (a newborn tummy is the size of a cherry and baby will be hungry every 2-3 hours), there are a few things you can do to gently help guide them to sleep in the newborn phase. ⁠
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What you can do from 0-6 weeks:⁠
- Baby is still unaware of his/her surroundings. All you can do is love them, feed them when they're hungry, and get acquainted to being awake at 3am 😊.⁠
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The good news = once baby starts socially smiling (around 6 weeks adjusted age), they have reached their first sleep milestone! When baby starts smiling it means they are starting to become aware of their environment. Pretty interesting, right?⁠ At this point, you can begin to set up routines and habits to subconsciously cue your baby's brain and body to sleep in a certain situation. ⁠
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HOW:⁠
1. Create a consistent sleep space (typically in your room at this age).
2. Think of their senses:⁠
👁 sight should be dark as possible⁠
👂🏻 sound should be a low, consistent noise, like a sound machine⁠
🤚🏾 feel should be swaddled and 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit⁠
👃🏻 smell could be a lotion or pediatrician approved essential oil⁠
👅 No tastes besides breast milk or formula please 🤓⁠
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Do your best to keep this environment the same for every sleep. It signals to baby “when I’m in this environment, I sleep” and their body makes it a habit. ⁠

It's also important not to stress about it. We realize that it is unrealistic to be consistent with any routine 100% of the time! You'll absolutely find yourself wanting to nap on the go, or will enjoy baby falling asleep on you while you're watching TV, or may have another child at home who won't let you do a routine every time. WE GET IT! It’s like a diet, a little cheat here and there doesn’t hurt anyone... but a donut at every meal... ut-o (and YUM)🤤.

This is Lovebug baby Axel. He had just wrapped up a very busy night of keeping his momma awake, so the coffee was very necessary ☕️. Don't worry - he sleeps like a champ now that he's older!! 😴