Baby’s First Night Home
Welcome home little one! Your pediatrician is looking forward to seeing you within a day or two of your arrival home. Since your parents are on their own tonight, we thought we’d give them a couple of tips!
- Babies cannot sleep too much. In fact, many infants sleep up to 19 hours a day for the first few weeks. Enjoy it!
- Your infant should be feeding every 1.5 - 3 hours until they are seen by a pediatrician and can demonstrate that they have begun to put on weight (since many of them initially lose weight in the hospital).
- Look for one wet diaper per day of life. Since most vaginal delivery newborns go home on day three of life, the goal is three urine diapers on that day. This rule peaks at six days.
- Don’t panic if you’re breastfeeding and your breasts feel flat. Milk typically comes on day four or five. In addition, many infants feed so frequently the breasts hardly have time to refill and will feel soft. Monitor urine and stool output as a marker of good feeding. Visit a pediatrician within 48 hours of discharge as your baby’s weight and exam will tell us if your milk is adequate.
- Babies can sense nervousness. Relax and enjoy. You’re never going to do everything right, but if you follow your instincts and call your pediatrician with questions you are going to do well. Babies respond well to calm, confident demeanors.
- Babies like to be rocked, held, swaddled, etc. Remember they just emerged from a 9 month long hot tub stay! While it’s never a bad thing to put them down to help them learn to have alone time (sleeping, looking at mobile, etc), it’s also not unusual for infants to like to be held a lot in the first month of life. You’re not going to set any patterns that can’t be undone by holding them (no matter what your mother-in-law says!).
- Some infants spend the first night at home awake! The sleep-wake cycle in infants is not set for day and night, sometimes for the entire first month. Many infants will seem more awake at night. Don’t try to keep them awake during the day to counteract this – sleep begets sleep. Try to jump in bed during the day when they do sleep. Don’t feel guilty if you snooze while they gaze happily at their mobile while awake in the middle of the night. The most important thing is a parent who can function.
- Some favorite reading materials include:
- Happy Baby, Healthy Sleep Habits by Marc Weissbluth
- Your Baby’s First Year by the American Academy of Pediatrics
- Nursing Mother’s Handbook
Newborn Tips From a Pediatrician:
- The only predictable thing about newborns is their unpredictableness. Don’t worry, this gets be
- Take a picture of your baby in a diaper next to a stuffed animal that’s about 25 inches tall. You will be amazed at the changes if you snap pictures at 2 weeks, 1 month and then monthly after that until your little bundle of joy is walking!
- When someone asks how they can help, let your eyes slowly drift towards the dishwasher, washing machine, etc. Or say, “Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do the laundry, but if you insist” (or maybe they could write thank you cards!).
- In general, I prefer doulas to baby nurses — they help more with the housework, breastfeeding education, etc.
- Dr. Weissbluth, author of my favorite sleep book Happy Baby, Healthy Sleep Habits, is right — sleep begets sleep. Never wake a sleeping newborn (once their weight is stable and you have the okay from your pediatrician). If they want to sleep five hours during the day it doesn’t mean they won’t sleep at night. Just try to jump into bed or take some time for yourself when this happens (which will surely wake them up!).
- Don’t avoid going out with your newborn — just avoid sick people. Once you can walk, you should try to get out as energy permits.
- Take breastfeeding just one day at a time. Be proud for each additional day you do and your baby will thank you! It took my nipples seventeen days to stop screaming, “Why are you putting razors on me?” every time the baby latched. Hang in there, it gets better. If it’s getting worse though, don’t hesitate to get help — pediatricians, lactation specialists, etc.
- Poop. If it’s not red, black, or white, don’t call the pediatrician at night. Stool changes daily with newborns until their about two months old. It’s all normal — once a day, thirteen times a day, seedy, green, soft, liquidy. But if it’s red, black, or white, do call a pediatrician!
- Newborns are wonderful, but all different. Don’t compare your baby to others. Pediatricians are careful to monitor your baby’s development at every check-up, and will let you know if you need to worry! Even the fussy ones grow up great!