Newborn nights

i5kiwiii · 2025-01-12T15:45:59+00:00

Hi! me and my partner plan on sleeping downstairs for the first week with our baby girl, but then we'll go upstairs with her. how did everyone handle night feeds and changes? especially with partners who are up early for work. baby girl is formula fed so will have to go downstairs to heat bottle up, plus i tend to change or at least check her nappy before each feed! any sorts of tips or advice would be amazing!!

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Mrsttcno1 · 12/01/2025 16:03

Everyone is different and so there isn’t a one size fits all, we sort of muddled through while my husband was off on paternity the very early days by doing shifts so one of us did 9pm-3am and the other did 3am-9am, whoever wasn’t on that shift slept so we each got basically 5/6 hours sleep uninterrupted although I was breastfeeding so husband had to wake me to feed her then took her away again, much easier to do the shifts if formula feeding!

Once he was back at work though I did the nights but then from 5am he would take her so I still got some uninterrupted sleep and I could then nap with her during the day. It didn’t matter so much that I didn’t get much sleep at night because especially when she was really young she slept for chunks of the day so I could sleep too whereas my husband obviously couldn’t nap due to being at work.

Original poster

i5kiwiii · 12/01/2025 16:31

Mrsttcno1 · 12/01/2025 16:03

Everyone is different and so there isn’t a one size fits all, we sort of muddled through while my husband was off on paternity the very early days by doing shifts so one of us did 9pm-3am and the other did 3am-9am, whoever wasn’t on that shift slept so we each got basically 5/6 hours sleep uninterrupted although I was breastfeeding so husband had to wake me to feed her then took her away again, much easier to do the shifts if formula feeding!

Once he was back at work though I did the nights but then from 5am he would take her so I still got some uninterrupted sleep and I could then nap with her during the day. It didn’t matter so much that I didn’t get much sleep at night because especially when she was really young she slept for chunks of the day so I could sleep too whereas my husband obviously couldn’t nap due to being at work.

whilst your partner was back in work did you sleep in the same room or separate? i'm worried about baby waking him up!

OP posts:

Notsoinnocentorangejuice · 12/01/2025 16:59

Apart from the 2 weeks of paternity leave, we usually sleep in separate bedrooms. It’s not great but actually I enjoy not having to be super quiet for feeds overnight and then not being woken up by dh’s alarm. I EBF and it’s one of the disadvantages as it’s all on me but even if they were formula fed, he’d need to be in a separate room as his job is demanding so he needs his sleep. Come 6 months though, I’m hoping they’ll sleep a bit better and I’ll move back into our bedroom!

Mrsttcno1 · 12/01/2025 17:10

i5kiwiii · 12/01/2025 16:31

whilst your partner was back in work did you sleep in the same room or separate? i'm worried about baby waking him up!

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We slept in the same room but my husband could honestly sleep through the roof falling in so it wasn’t an issue for us. We did have a spare bedroom set up incase he needed it but never did x

Fupoffyagrasshole · 12/01/2025 18:56

We 7 months in and still sleep separately ! For a while when the baby was really small I actually used to put husband and baby together in living room (baby in travel cot) and I’d go to bed at 7 and come get the baby around 1 and take him into the bedroom then and it meant we both got a good chunk of sleep

Bunny2006 · 12/01/2025 19:53

Partner just slept through baby stirring in the night! She didn't really cry as I'd just feed her when she stirring and started to cry. He was off for the first few weeks so would hold her for a bit when I was struggling with cluster feeding but he would often just say she needed feeding (EBF), it was only when she was older (4+ months) he started sleeping downstairs but he was in a bad place coping with the chance in our family

DappledThings · 12/01/2025 19:59

Never did any bottle feeding so not sure about that but I only ever changed a nappy in the night for a poo. So really hardly ever.

Threesmycrowd · 12/01/2025 20:06

Shifts here for us too - I went to bed by 8pm and dh would have baby downstairs, then bring up when he went to bed around midnight. I'd then do the rest of the night. Separate rooms until about 6 weeks old too. Depends on your set up and how heavily you both sleep, you'll find a way that works for you 😍

Threesmycrowd · 12/01/2025 20:08

Agree with only change nappy for a poo too! And friends who formula fed swore by perfect prep machines so you don't have to faff with cooling bottles.

stackhead · 12/01/2025 20:12

Split night shifts when DH isn't working and when he his separate rooms so I could deal with baby without worrying about bothering him.

I have a little box of change stuff along with bibs and muslins on the bed.

When dd stirs I pop downstairs to make the bottle (perfect prep!) Then back upstairs, change dd on the bed (now on a towel after a spectacular wee all over my bed whe she was a few weeks old). Shove an episode of call the midwife on the tablet. Feed, burb and back to sleep.

DH works nights so usually comes and takes dd for a few hours in the morning before the school run for older dd so I can have an hour uninterrupted.

Lemondrizzlecakeandtea · 12/01/2025 20:13

We had a Tommy Tippee perfect prep machine - great for making formula up quickly at night (there must be lots of others on the market too).

In the very early days I slept 7-12 (if possible) whilst my partner had the baby, and then I had the baby overnight, albeit we were all in the same room overnight. My partner didn’t really hear the baby unless he knew he had to listen out for them, if that makes sense. Also an eye mask helped for when the side light was on.

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