Truth about newborn sleep

You may not want to hear this but newborn sleep is chaotic. More often than not, parents and their newborn struggle with sleep. I’ll cut to the chase and will dive right in to chatting about realistic expectations for sleep during this phase. Yes, it’s a phase - it will not last forever. But first, I do want to acknowledge that not everyone has the same sleep goals as a sleep consultant. That’s OK. I am going to chat about the expectations assuming that a family might want to establish independent sleep skills at some point - however please know your newborn will more than likely need support during this time.

Did you know that a newborn's circadian rhythm doesn’t even begin to develop around 8 weeks; and generally it's not fully established until closer to 12 weeks.

So, what does that mean? This means that your newborn does not have the help of hormones to support their sleep patterns.

Here’s a few goals you can focus on when it comes to your newborn’s sleep:

Prevent overtiredness. This is probably the most important thing when it comes to newborn sleep. Newborns usually cannot handle more than 45-60 minutes of awake time in those early weeks! It is very much an eat, sleep situation.

Be mindful of sleep environment. Include lots of exposure to light during the day; black out their sleep space at night. Newborns often struggle with day/night confusion.

Establish sleep routines. Yes, you can start routines when you come home from the hospital and choosing a consistent wake up time to start your day can help stabilize a newborn's day. This also means you might need to wake your baby - typically suggest waking newborns up at the 2 hour mark if they sleep that long. I know you’ve heard “never wake a sleeping baby” BUT it truly can help them shift their sleep to night vs sleeping all day. PLUS it will help with the next goal.

Establish regular feedings.. You can try and keep to feeding in regular intervals (ie: every 2 to 3 hours) during the day! As always, feeding recommendations should ALWAYS be discussed with your pediatrician.

Swaddle Swaddling mimics the closeness in the womb, provides warmth and it can decrease the Moro reflex that often wakes up your baby due to their arms flailing.

Practice. Newborn sleep is all about practice. If your family wants to work on independent sleep skills to establish this sleep foundation, you can give your newborn the opportunity to put themselves to sleep independently in their sleep space. For the first few weeks - it’s survival mode.

I highly encourage a bit of a sleep plan for parents as well! It’s not uncommon for a newborn to want to be held for sleep in those early weeks as they adjust to this big new world. This might look like taking shifts with your partner. Making sure each parent gets solid stretches of sleep. Safe sleep is important; this would involve making sure each parent gets some rest.

The fact is, newborn sleep is hard. Trying to implement a few of these tips can help shape up a healthy sleep foundation as your child grows!