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.

Try to trust your instincts, feed on demand, ensure you have water upstairs as i got thirsty, packet of biscuits or crackers is a good idea too, have a cardigan to put around you if you are sitting up feeding in bed, a throw is a good idea too, a washable one. Have changing stuff upstairs and down, have spare clothes downstairs too. Don't worry about bathing but have a couple of bowls and cotton wool for cleaning as needed (no soap needed) this works for nappies too, wipes are very harsh for a newborn

Mine was a bloody nightmare. She was born in the small hours and we came home later that day so I was exhausted having been labouring all the night before, but desperate to get out of hospital. She cried and she cried and she cried. We got no sleep at all, and wondered what on earth we had done to our previously lovely life. I wanted to give her away there and then!
So in terms of advice, I would say have very low expectations and if it goes better, then great.

For the first 2 weeks you will be shattered. Newborns feed every 2-3 hours and if they dont wake, you need to wake them. You will be sleep deprived because when they do sleep you will worry about every noise they make and if theyre breathing normally. DD is 8 weeks old now and I still lay awake at night worrying about the grunting, snuffling, wheezing and intermittent cries she makes while she is absolutely sparko in bed!

Make a quick log on your phone of when you feed and how long for just so you can keep track of where youre at. If bottle feeding, note how much you give too.
This really helped me after DD lost alot of her birth weight.

Dont worry about getting dressed. Slob about in your PJ's while you get used to your new baby.

Dont invite the world over to meet baby either. Have some time as a team of 3 to get used to everything. This really helped me as for the first week i struggled and cried every day.
I was in no position to entertain people.

Your midwife will see you the day after you come home from hospital.
I didnt know this and wasnt prepared for her to rock up at 9am when i was still sitting with my boobs out in bed trying to work out what the hell i was doing!

Sleep when they sleep.
Ours both slept for 10 hours but I was so pumped up I sat up writing announcement cards and generally feeling invincible.

Big mistake, huge

Don't wake the baby to feed! Dream feed. Sleep when baby sleeps. Only change if soiled or very wet. Use vaseline, no creams. Use warm water and cotton wool when changing nappy or wiping mill spills around face and neck..use muzzy's and bibs or a small soft flannel to avoid milk drips on babies. Before you feed baby have a drink, snack,book, nightlight,remote,phone close by and go to the loo first as it can take ages, all babies different. Good luck and congratulations. Hope you get some sleep and if you have a baby who gives you sleep deprivation please take help from anyone who offers, I didn't and got very ill from sleep deprivation. Don't take or listen to much advice,it can make it stressful, you'll be ok and we all make mistakes,it's how we learn and just remember all babies are different,all things don't work for all x

Another vote for dream feeding

Also, you and DH are both tired, if you snap at eachother or anything, just move on from it. Something me and DH learnt with our second, its not meant and being exhausted makes your fuse that little bit shorter

Second night is hell. If you Bf - it'll get better I promise.

So no one has mentioned day 3 yet, usually day 3 (could be few later if you had a C-section or bleed) your milk comes in. You will wake up with enormous, solid rock like breasts. You will also be flooded with emotions and cry all day long.

It can help to latch the baby onto engorged breasts if you gently rub away from the nipples (reverse pressure)

Also lots of mums don’t realise how much you bleed after so be prepared for the bleeding to go on for a few weeks.

Newborns can be really difficult but they are so lovely and eventually you forget the tough bits!

Use nipple cream if you’re breastfeeding. With my first, I thought you were only supposed to use it after you got sore. That was a big mistake! Pop it on after every feed. As others have said, wake the baby to feed if they aren’t waking every 2-3 hours. I couldn’t have done dream feeds with my first, he wouldn’t have had anything.

Do lots of skin to skin.

Congratulations and enjoy the beautiful baby bubble.

Get a note pad and write things down, you will forget everything after 30 seconds.

Come up with a system for remembering which boob you started/finished on with the last feed (you will forget).

Remember you are healing from childbirth.

The shower is a good place to cry.
If you feed every 2-3 hrs during the day, the baby was full term, not jaundiced and more than 3.2kg, you dont need to wake them to feed at night (10pm to 5am).
After birth pains while bf are a complete bitch. Ask what pain killers you can safely take.
Put a towel on top of the sheet on your side of the bed and have a couple of spares handy. They catch leaky milk and blood so you dont have to change the sheets in the middle of the night
Never fall asleep sitting up and feeding the baby
IT DOESNT TAKE TWO OF YOU TO CHANGE A NAPPY. If one of you is doing baby stuff, the other can be doing house stuff or sleeping.
When you just dont know what to do and the baby is crying, take a deep breath first. Then go from there.

Sleep! My husband sent me to bed the first few nights but we were too worried to both go asleep and leave the baby unsupervised (no reason just first time parents) so I would say the first 2 weeks we both sat up watching him sleep while the other one slept. Total and utter madness 😂 eventually we moved him into our room and both slept at the same time. Also be prepared for the tears, all the hormonal changes are tough I would say I cried for the first 3 weeks 80% of the time during the day - I didn’t have the easiest of labour or recovery and any thing would set me off. Currently pregnant with no 2!

If your breast feeding, instead of an app on your phone to track which boob was last (so the first one next time) just use a hair bobble on the wrist ... so much easier when your sleep deprived to remember
Don't expect any sleep, but look into safe co sleeping/bed sharing , because if you do make that decision, at least you are prepared and safe