When Baby Arrives
When your baby arrives the excitement will be overwhelming. Soon after, when the company leaves you and your partner will want to get some sleep. The problem is your newborn has to cooperate. Before giving up and waving the white flag, read through these reasons your newborn may be having problems sleeping and the tips to solve the problem.
1) Hunger
A newborn will likely want to eat every two hours if breastfeeding and every 3 hours if formula fed. So this means in the early days, your newborn will wake when hungry. This may not be an issue during the day but at night it can exhausting . Try feeding your baby and then put them down for bed. Best bet is to head to bed yourself. The laundry, dishes and other chores can wait until morning. Your newborns tummy will grow with time and is unfortunately out of any parents control. Do not force feed your baby in order for her to sleep longer. This usually backfire and can cause gas, tummy aches and even reflux.
2) Sleep Cycle
Newborn babies do not have the same sleep cycle as adults. with shorter sleep cycles, they will wake more often. This is believed to be a survival instinct by Dr. Sears. In order to survive newborns wake frequently to meet their needs. If a newborn slept all night, they would not eat as much as they need to grow and survive. When your newborn wakes, feed him, then try to put gently back to sleep.