Sleep habits of newborns

[LittleNightLark]

I am a first time mum to a little boy he was born on Thursday the 13th of March 2025. He's nearly 5 days old. Labour was difficult and he ended up having a NICU stay due to inability to regulate his oxygen without air supplement.

We noticed as well quite quickly that he had a bit of a shake in his arm so extra tests were done.
Turns out as well as being jaundice he has a vitamin D deficiency which may be causing a shaking. We got discharged on Saturday evening after staying in the first day and Friday night and were told just to monitor him to see if the shaking gets worse. It hasn't luckily but he has started to bring up milk which I'm telling myself is normal and not something to be worried about

He was checked out by the health visitor yesterday and she said everything seems fine. Despite all this and all the confirmations from the medical professionals that he is okay... I'm actually convinced that he'll pass away if I'm not watching him at night.. or that the normal eye rolls that babies do is him having epilepsy due to the shaking... How do you do this because I am a wreck and it's literally been in five days. I'm terrified of SIDS... Any change in his breathing or catching on his breathing and I can't cope... I am setting an alarm every hour in order to monitor his breathing at night... I don't know what else to do. Any advice would be brilliant xx

It sounds as though you’ve both had a difficult start and I can understand that you would be a bit more anxious than if everything had gone smoothly but setting the alarm for every hour sounds as though you’ve may be starting with Post Natal Illness.

If you have someone home with you, can they keep an eye on the baby whilst you call the MWs or the Pandas Foundation who can tell you of how you’re feeling is normal or if you might need a bit of extra support

The stress and anxiety after birth can be crippling, and if you do develop a post natal illness, that's completely understandable considering the start you've had.

Keep following your instincts, but make sure you get some sleep. Can someone else watch him while you get some rest? Explain you're really anxious given the history and ensure it's someone you can trust fully to check and watch as much as you want so you can get some rest.

The panda foundation also seems to be really helpful, that's a great suggestion.