First night with newborn tips?

[della2404]

Hi, just wondering are there any top tips/advice/suggestions that you wonderful people have for surviving the first night with baby? Any help much appreciated for two brand new parents.

Have easy to grab snacks... esoecially if you're beeastfeeding and especially on night 2.

A good flask for water. You will always be thirsty the second you sit down with the baby.

Don't wake them up!!! (I woke up my 2nd on his first night and have wondered ever since if that's why hes a rubbish sleeper).

The rest you'll figure out as you go.

If breast feeding, drink a glass of water every time you feed. Take a bottle/jug of water to bed.
Have a box of nappies/ wipes, changing mat and changes of clothes at hand.
A bedside lamp so you don’t have to put the main light on.
Good luck

Basically, just go in with the expectation that you will barely sleep at all. A) because they will wake frequently for feeds/comfort but also B) you will be so besotted by them and concerned for them that you won't want to take your eyes off him/her! They'll nap loads in the day for the first few weeks so you can catch up on sleep then. I would keep snacks in the bedroom for when you need to do night feeds as well. Obviously beforehand have your bedside crib/moses basket set up where you want it. Erm that's about it really!

My first night home was after 3 nights in hospital, it was so weird and I felt like I'd arrived from a parallel universe! Everything was the same but different. We really hadn't planned well and ended up having a takeaway pizza , heaven after 6 months of no carbs with GD. For some inexplicable reason I also did a load of washing and changed the bedsheets, not advisable 3 days post c-section! Husband played PlayStation with newborn on his lap and I fussed around

If I were to do it all again, I'd try and make it much more special and cozy - maybe a duvet on the sofa with a lovely happy film, and many more cups of tea and snacks than I actually had.

If I were to do it all again, I think I'd

Wake them to feed!!! We went with the whole 'don't wake them up' thing not knowing any better and ds slept all night long. We then had midwives on our case the next morning saying he'd gone too long without a breastfeed and that we should've been waking him every 2-3 hours for a feed, why didn't we do it etc etc. Then they tried to 'get food into him as quickly as possible'. It was all ok in the end but very stressful at the time and we felt guilty! For the first 2 weeks of life at least, wake them for feeds (no idea how FF works but for BF this is important).

This is the only time in my life that we’ve had the heating on overnight.

In addition to all the above some Vaseline on their bottom so they’re easier to change. Their first few nappies came be really stick and hard to get off their skin.
Enjoy the hours gazing at your beautiful newborn and try to get some sleep too!

Congratulations!
It's weird because when they first come home you don't really know what to do with yourself and then they wake up and it's all a bit crazy. If they sleep, get to bed instantly and try to get a bit of sleep yourself. I found it helped to have a lamp on all night, as going from dark to light (or fumbling in the dark) was horrible.
No matter how tired you are, make sure you don't fall asleep on the sofa holding the baby, put them down or pass them on.

A low nightlight is a good idea too so you’re not waking them up fully when they need a feed or a change. I do agree with the PP saying they need a feed every 3 hours when they’re so tiny. My first never slept that long for months so wasn’t an issue but my second did and needed waking for the first few weeks. She was tiny so I didn’t dare not do as I was told.

Make sure the baby has a safe sleep space - and commit to using it, no matter how tired you are.
Placed on back, in a sleep sack, nothing else in the crib. Ideally in your room, one foot away from furniture and three feet from windows.
Don't breastfeed in bed in case you fall asleep holding the baby.
So many congratulations!

Just relax and marvel in the miracle that is your baby. No matter how tiring it may be, you will both survive it. Take each minute as it comes and work together to get through it.

You don’t need to change a nappy if it is just a tiny bit wet. And if you do, you don’t need to faff with full changing mat, lights etc. in middle of night. Just quick off and on with fresh one. Towel on bed until you have got the hang of it

I remember it all well. First baby didn't fall asleep until 7.30 am. We seemed very surprised!!! However we were very tired.

Have lots of snacks and drinks to hand.

Have no expectations of yourself. If you are in your pjs at 4.30 pm, that's just fine.

Expect it to be tricky and prepare. ☘️

Ignore advice about not waking a sleeping baby to eat (within reason obviously)! Especially if the baby is very newborn and has been sleeping more than 3/4 hours.

I had to wake DD every 3 hours the first couple of weeks as she was very jaundiced and sleepy. I never even knew that was a thing until day 3 when she got weighed and had lost a lot of her weight. I was terrified and felt so upset and guilty. Still makes me teary thinking about my little hungry baby who was too sleepy, she's 17 months now and absolutely fine but honestly, newborns need to eat really frequently especially when breastfeeding to build your supply. We had to go for the UV treatment, was actually awful and so upsetting to have to go back to hospital with her.

Not waking babies to feed is an old wives tale I was told by the infant feeding team.

Galactic I absolutely agree, after a while I was able to start increasing the gap in the night to 4 hrs then 5 hrs but only for that one feed at first. Plus I made sure I checked with the HV before I did it.

It's a very emotionally charged time also, so be kind to yourself and make sure you grab sleep when you can. I never took this advice also and now she's older I take every opportunity to nap when she does. 😂

Also don't make lots of plans, just enjoy your tiny baby and their amazing smell. My goodness, that smell. I can't even describe it but it's surely just hormones because i remember being obsessed and intoxicated by DD and just wanted to be holding her all the time. She was very rarely put down by me and DH and grandparent in the first month, only for sleep!

I've had 3 children, we came home and I was shattered each time (I birth very slowly) so the first night was pretty much me napping and feeding and not much else. My husband cooks anyway so he made tea (I don't get this have snacks everywhere thing and I've breastfed 3, I ate normal and still do breastfeeding around the clock!). I think a lot of it is just working it out for yourself at first. I've never woken a baby to feed either. Just have the changing mat and nappies nearby and some spare clothes for in the night, no one wants to be faffing about looking for stuff at 3am and get your husband to do the nappies in the night (at least the first few days, he might not be able to feed but he can save you getting up - you might be a bit battered), you'll figure out the rest. Good luck!

You should wake your baby every 3 hours or so to feed until they reach their birth weight. Esp if breastfeeding, night feeds are one of the most important times to up your supply.

Not necessarily the first night but certainly in the upcoming weeks - if your baby is crying and you're so sleep deprived you could scream, there is nothing wrong with laying your baby down and going to take a few deep breaths in another room

Have a good book (or the remote control) to hand -it gets boring!

Make it warm and dim and not too noisy, make sure the space is safe (look up safe co sleeping guidance) and curl up and feed and doze if possible. Nappy change when dirty. Ignore clocks.

Be prepared that night 2 at home is the WORST. Terrifying, lonely and very very tired.
Just get through it.

It’s very surreal bringing them home the first day. We didn’t get discharged until 10pm. So I’d say:
Have something easy ready to heat up for dinner that night.
Don’t worry if you can’t sleep at first, I was full of adrenaline and functioned happily on only a few hours as I was wired and in a complete love bubble! (now I’m always shattered!)
Keep your tablet, book or remote next to your bed.
Make sure everything is unboxed, washed, set up etc in advance so you can come home and just start using things.
If you have a big family, set the visiting boundaries early so everyone knows the plan.

Oh yes, for an actually useful tip - get a salt lamp - the pink light is enough to see by but won't keep you all awake.

Also bring changing things into the bedroom - it took me 9 weeks before someone told me I could change him in bed and didn't have to cart him to a changing table in another room!
If formula feeding, either premade liquid in the bedroom with you or perfect prep in the room. No idea why I was up half asleep in the kitchen for more months that I care to admit making bottles!
Zip sleepsuits easier than poppers to change.

Helps to also join a few Facebook groups so you have someone to chat to in the early hours! Beyond sleep training, attachment parenting uk,
and gentle parenting uk were my ones, but there's something for everyone.

My baby was sick on night 3 at home, felt like there was gallons of it, it was bright yellow and terrifying - was up the rest of the night googling - turns out it was totally normal and never happened again!

Make sure you eat and drink enough. This is very much TMI but I wish someone had told me this - the first time you go to the toilet after having a baby can be a bit of a challenge! Have a wet flannel to hand in case you need to apply gentle pressure and be aware of constipation. Eat some prunes...

For the first two weeks don’t let a bf baby sleep more than 3–4 hours.
Get a headphone splitter so you can watch the same TV.
They can make weird noises in the night. It’s normal.
Have a complete change of clothes ready on the changing table but far enough away that they can’t wee on them (don’t assume that girls can’t do this).