The first few weeks after having your baby are a whirlwind. You leave the hospital excited yet nervous to care for this angel without a nurse call button. Sitting in the back seat of your car you stare at the precious little bundle that you spent almost 10 months with, yet feel so unfamiliar with. You experience your first bout of Mum anxiety as you run through the comments the midwife left you with, and wonder if your little one has had enough to eat, if he is too jaundice, if tonight is the night that your baby will cry all night between suckling on your already bruised nipples.
As the first weeks pass, you can’t help but hold your baby close gazing into their eyes and smelling their sweet skin. Visitors come and go and sleepless nights merge into one big blur. Your heart throbs with love for your little family.
As you near the end of your second month, the visitors have slowed, your partner is back at work, and you yearn for a guaranteed hour or two to yourself. Not to do anything fancy, just to have a long shower, get through 7 loads of washing and perhaps make a meal for lunch that has something green in it. How can I put baby koala to sleep in their bassinette?!
This is SO common. Before you freak out and think you are destined for a year of being a human cot, remember that human infants are extero-gestators. They complete their gestation in your arms, luckily! If they were to have completed 12 months gestation in utero, there may have been some trouble getting them out. There is nothing wrong with holding your baby in the first few months. Newborns lack the neurological maturity and sleep hormones to self-settle. Here are some tips for when you and baby are ready:
1️⃣Swaddle
2️⃣Pat baby in your arms. It takes 20 minutes for newborns to fall into a deep sleep. To begin with, you may need to pat for 20 minutes to transfer into cot without tears.
3️⃣Experiment. When you’re ready, reduce the amount of time patting in arms. Finish patting in the cot. Add some ‘shhh’ for extra comfort.
4️⃣Persist but don’t obsess. Start with 1 nap a day in the cot, be confident as they will sense your hesitation. Repetition is 🔑
5️⃣Enjoy the cuddles while they last!
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