So, what can be done to help the new-born who has got his/her day and nights muddled up because of course babies did not know day from night in the womb.
Now one of the classic things we all do as full time working antenatal Mums was to eat our main meal in the evening. If you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed, it is important to at least try to make the calories spread more equally across the day and preferably breastfeeding Mums eat a bigger breakfast because you will become more tired as the day goes by and possibly only have time for a snack or have interrupted meals as your baby needs you to attend to their baby care needs.
Your big breakfast will be making the breast milk for the evening so also make sure you eat a good nutritious lunch without the foods that classically make babies windy, such as raw onions, oranges, cauliflower, chilli etc
The same advice to bottle feeding Mums and Dads, because it is healthier to eat a smaller evening meal than a good breakfast and lunch.
So how can we help our new baby settle more in the evening?
From the earliest days possible, make a difference between night and day. Night-time for little ones we always say is 7pm to the earliest 6am.
Use dim amber/red lights to feed and change nappies by.
Whisper and shush only after 7pm. White or pink noise machines help some babies settle
New-born babies do not need to have a bath every day, but change their clothes as if into their pyjamas and follow the Lullaby safe sleep advice…
If your baby is in a ‘next to me’ crib of whatever brand ensure it is not by a radiator, or a window draft, with nothing extra in the cot in your room.
Place baby on their back, with feet to the foot of the crib in a room temperature between 18- 20 degrees centigrade. Please check the Lullaby trust website for more specific details for you and your family. www.lullabytrust.org.uk
So as the night-time hours approach make the baby’s feed a quiet time by whispering only to your little one. How can they know if it is night-time if they are downstairs in the living room with the TV on? My advice would be to set a time when you settle them upstairs as if it is bedtime and stick to it. Certainly, when they are little, they need a nappy change each feed, but as the new-born get older at 4, 5, 6 weeks old, only change them at night if they have a dirty nappy when they are older, remember try to use amber or red light to see to your baby care needs. The least the babes are disturbed at night the less they wake up.
When you have settled the little one in the evening keep them away from bright lights from phones and televisions as these emit blue lights which wake us all up.
