Food is the most important thing to your newborn right now, closely followed by sleep. There’s a third thing, involving diapering, that you’ll find out about soon enough – in the first weeks it will seem like all your baby does is eat, sleep and eliminate! That’s his or her job right now. Your family doctor or paediatrician will be frequently seeing you and baby for checkups in the first few months, and they are a great resource to let you know whether baby is growing gaining enough weight, whether their ‘behaviour’ is normal, and what to do if you have questions or doubts.
Getting over the hurdle
Sleeping baby by Ken Wilcox 1
At the beginning there is no such thing as ‘training’ the baby to take feeds or naps at certain times; conventional wisdom today is to allow the baby to feed and sleep when the spirit moves him or her. Instead of waiting for baby to howl when hungry, you will quickly learn to recognize certain cues, like your baby rooting when you hold them, opening their mouth wide as in a yawn while turning their heads, or sucking their fingers. It’s best to offer food at this time if you catch these cues, to avoid a frantic, frustrated baby who must then be soothed before effective feeding can begin.
Most babies are more sleepy during the day and more active at night; this nocturnal schedule began in the womb, when mom’s daytime movements soothed the baby to sleep (you will remember the kicking always got worse at night when you wanted to sleep). While you might be at the mercy of this for the first couple of months, after that you may wish to try to change baby’s schedule and make night-time, bedtime.
Much can be read in books and online about getting baby to sleep through the night; one such method is the famous Ferber Method which has been implemented with success with many a Toronto parent. Our friend Margot says of two year old Sam, “For the first six months, Sam slept for only fifteen minutes at a time. He was constantly fussing, unless I rocked him and patted him constantly. It got to the point where I wasn’t happy to be his mom. I was at the end of my rope and then my doctor told me to put him on the Ferber method. At first he cried hysterically because he was used to me immediately rocking him to sleep if he cried, but within three nights, he was sleeping 10 or 12 hours a night and totally happy about it.”
