- In this video, I'm going to show you what a day looks like
with a newborn baby from the moment they wake up
to when they go down for bed at night.
You're also going to learn lots of handy little tips
along the way that hopefully you can use
to make your days a little easier.
Let's get straight into it,
starting at 6:53 AM when our three-month-old decided
to start her day.
This is a slightly earlier start than usual,
thanks to the racket her older siblings were making
this morning.
But if she had continued to sleep,
I would've woken her up at 7:30 in the morning.
And this is something I've done
since she was eight weeks of age.
Although it may seem a little strange
to wake a newborn every morning at 7:30,
I do this for a very good reason.
Having a consistent wake-up time
encourages the maturation of the circadian rhythm,
which is what causes us to get tired
around the same time every night
and wake around the same time every morning.
Essentially, waking my little one
at the same time and exposing her to sunlight
resets her circadian rhythm each morning,
leading to consistent bedtimes and encouraging her to sleep
for longer stretches at night.
After waking up, it's time to head downstairs
to say "Good morning" to her siblings, and most importantly,
have a feed, as she is ravenous in the morning
given that her last feed was at 8:00 the night before.
After a quick 15-minute feed,
it's straight to morning cuddles with her sister,
skipping burping all together.
Again, this might seem a little strange,
but I have found that burping or not burping my little one
makes no difference with how settled she is.
In fact, after burping, she's more likely to spit up,
so I just stopped doing it completely,
and this is something I've done
with all three of my children.
After cuddling, it's time for a diaper change and playtime
while the rest of us get ready for school and work.
Initially, playtime starts
with lying underneath the play gym
where she primarily looks at the hanging toys,
and over the last few weeks, she started to reach out
and hit the toys.
She loves playing under the play gym,
but gets over looking at the same hanging toys
every single day, and honestly, so do I.
So, to maintain her interest,
I regularly change the hanging toys
and move the play gym to different areas of the house
just to change up the scenery for her.
After lying under the play gym,
it's time for tummy time.
Now, tummy time is one position she's not a massive fan of,
simply because she still finds it challenging.
But although she finds it challenging,
I do make sure she does tummy time each wake period
during the day.
And this is because tummy time
is an extremely important activity for newborns
as it helps to strengthen their neck,
shoulder, and back muscles,
and reduces the risk of developing a flat spot
on the back of their head,
as well as positional torticollis,
which is basically just a tight neck muscle.
Given that tummy time still is a little challenging for her,
she typically only tolerates this position for a short time,
which, this morning, was five minutes.
At this point, she started to whinge
and I placed a rolled-up towel underneath her chest.
This simple hack makes tummy time much easier for her
as it helps to shift the weight
from her head to her bottom and legs,
which makes it easier for her to lift her head
and stay in the tummy time position for a little longer.
In fact, it helped her stay in that tummy time position
for another 10 minutes.
And at this point, she started to protest,
clearly telling me she was ready for something different.
So, next up was playing while lying on her side.
As you can see, this is another play position she likes
because when she's lying on her sides,
her hands naturally fall in front of her body,
making it easier for her to reach out and hit toys
as well as grab them briefly.
Now, because she finds this position a little tricky
to stay in, I place a rolled-up towel behind her back
to stop her from accidentally rolling onto her back
or onto her tummy.
After playing on the ground for over 45 minutes,
our little one starts to protest.
But given that I'm not quite ready yet,
it's into the bouncer for a short play.
I have found the bouncer a great option
that I can use when she starts to get a little grizzly
after playing on the floor, but I have to do something
with her siblings, or I need some more hands-free time.
She happily plays with the soft baby toys,
or actually watches the kids or I
while she's in that bouncer.
Although using a bouncer gives me
additional hands-free time,
I do know that overusing a bouncer, swing, or glider
can actually hinder gross motor development
if it's used too much.
So, I always make sure that I limit her time in it,
and most importantly,
give her lots of time playing on the ground
in that tummy time position, on her back, and in side lying.
In addition to limiting the time she spends in the bouncer,
I also make sure that I never let her sleep in the bouncer.
Although the subtle bouncing motion can soothe her to sleep,
it is unsafe to let a baby sleep in a bouncer,
swing, or glider, due to the risk of positional asphyxiation
and suffocation.
So, if I do notice that she is getting slightly sleepy
when she is in the bouncer, I quickly get her ready
for bed and place her in a safe sleeping space.
After packing the older siblings' lunch
and brushing their teeth, it's time for a diaper change
and a change of clothing before walking to school.
Now, as school drop-off is just before 9:00 AM
and she usually falls asleep around 9:00 AM,
I quickly wrap her in her Halo SleepSack swaddle
before laying her down in the pram
for her first nap.
This morning, she was super tired from the early start
and fell asleep very quickly.
Now, following school drop-off, it's time to walk the dog
while she sleeps in the pram, which I leave uncovered
to ensure that I can see her at all times and prevent her
from overheating while she is in the pram.
Now, after an hour walk, we arrive home at 10:00 AM
and at which point she decides to wake up happily
from her nap.
And because she is so happy and I'm hot from the walk,
I quickly place her change table mat onto the floor
in the bathroom for her to lay on
while I have a super-quick shower.
And as soon as I jump out of the shower,
she starts to grizzle, letting me know
that it's time for her second nurse of the day.
After another 15 minute feed, it's more playtime.
And because the older siblings are at school,
this is usually the the time of day where we get to talk
and sing, which she absolutely loves.
She's such a chatterbox.
The best position I find
for this back-and-forth conversation
is actually laying on my lap.
When she's in this position, she can see me clearly
and she can reach out and touch my hands and my face.
And this is one of my all-time favorite parts of the day
as her smiles and giggles are the best.
And I know the simple act of talking
and singing to her is laying the foundation
for great language development.
After our chat, it's more playtime under the play gym,
and tummy time, while I make myself a coffee.
Now, after only being awake for an hour and a half,
she starts to show me that she's tired
by starting to grizzle, yawn,
and generally start to be a bit unhappy.
So, after a very quick diaper change, I place her back
in her swaddle and prepare her for her second nap,
which she will have in her bassinet in the bedroom.
To make it easier for her to fall asleep
and have a long nap, I always make sure the bedroom
is cool and dark.
I also use a white noise machine that I play
throughout the entire nap as this helps
to mask loud unexpected noises,
which could accidentally wake her up
from her sleep prematurely.
Now, this sleeping environment might be a little different
to what you've heard from other parents
because they are under the impression
that if a baby learns to fall asleep
in a cool, dark, quiet room
they're never going to be able to sleep in a noisy environment,
but this is simply not true.
All babies can and will fall asleep
in a loud, bright environment if they're tired enough!
But their nap is more likely to be shorter,
and they will be roused from their sleep prematurely
by the loud noises,
and the sleep itself will not be as restful,
which may lead to a slightly cranky baby when they wake up.
So, when I am at home, I do make it easier
for her to fall asleep and stay asleep for longer
by letting her sleep in a dark, cool bedroom.
After falling asleep within five minutes,
I quietly exit the room to let her sleep.
And unfortunately, as sleep pressure
drives the length of time a newborn will sleep for.
I never know how long these naps are going to be,
as she will simply stay asleep
until that sleep pressure dissipates
and she is no longer tired.
So, this might mean she may only sleep for 20 minutes
or she may sleep for a few hours.
Although this is extremely frustrating at times,
it is entirely normal.
Fortunately, today, she decided to have a three-hour nap.
She did start to move around and grunt and squirm
after being asleep for two hours,
but as grunting and squirming
during sleep is normal for newborns,
I waited and watched her on the monitor
to see if she was awake.
Now, this was a great move, as she wasn't awake.
And by not rushing in, I didn't accidentally wake her up,
which meant that she slept for another hour.
Now, after that three hour nap,
she did wake up slightly grumpy because she was very hungry.
Now, this isn't that surprising given that her last feed
was at 10:00 AM and it's now 2:45 in the afternoon.
Now, this grumpiness quickly disappeared
after a 15-minute feed, and then it was time to play.
This playtime involved reading books with her sister,
tummy time, playing under the play gym,
and some quick play in the bouncer while I prepared dinner,
and then a car ride to go and get her brother.
After the quick car ride, we arrived home
with one tired little bub.
So, after a not-so-quick diaper change
and change of clothing, thanks to a poop explosion,
she was off to bed for her third nap.
Now, this final nap of the day is usually a very short nap;
anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes,
which is usually enough time for me to cook some dinner
and eat some of the food without her sitting in my lap.
So, after a 40-minute nap, she woke up and she was happy,
so I didn't necessarily need to feed her straight away.
And so, I placed her underneath the play gym
and gave her some more tummy time
while I quickly ate the rest of my dinner.
After 30 minutes of playing, though,
she started to fuss, letting me know that it's time
for another feed.
And generally, this is the last feed of the day,
and it's usually a long one.
Typically, she nurses anywhere from 30 minutes plus,
rather than the quick 15-minute feed
which she has during the day.
After a 30-minute feed,
it's time to change her diaper, and then some more playtime.
And typically, this playtime involves laying in my lap
while we chat and sing with one another.
Also, at this point in the night, if it were a bath night,
she would be having a bath as part of her nighttime routine.
But as the American Academy of Pediatric recommends
you only bathe a newborn two-to-three times a week
to avoid drying out their skin,
and my babies tend to be prone to eczema,
I don't bathe her every night, including tonight.
After some more animated chatting,
it's time to change her diaper one last time
and get her dressed for bed,
as well as wrap her in her swaddle sleeping bag.
And then, finally, it's bedtime at 7:30.
Thankfully, she sleeps through the night
and probably won't wake until 6:30 tomorrow morning.
And part of the reason why she sleeps so well
is because I use several items that really help
improve her baby sleep.
So, watch this video next to find out what these items are.
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