How do I fix my baby’s day and night confusion?
Ah, the bliss of newborn life: Sweet snuggles, that fresh baby smell, wrinkly folds of smooth baby skin … I love it. (Yes, I could also talk about chapped nipples, exhaustion, and that soundtrack of crying - but today, we’re keeping it sunshine!)
As first time parents, we have no idea what we are doing. It feels like the hospital hands us a (well-earned) baby, and sends us on our way without so much as a handbook! It’s a humbling moment. (And by the way, I have a free Newborn Sleep Class. You can check it out HERE
Once you’ve been around the parenting block a couple of times, then you have a fairly good idea of what to expect - even then, however, there are surprises and “I wish I had known that with my last baby” moments.
Here’s one that might surprise you: Newborns sleep A LOT (wait for it …). However, if you just let baby sleep on their own timeline, you might be making things tougher for yourself.
Allow me to explain.
If your newborn is sleeping more than 3 hours at a time during the day, then it’s too much!
This is because newborns easily mix up their days and nights.
If they get too much sleep during the day, then they start waking more at night and having trouble going back to sleep after their night feeds … all because they’ve had their fill of sleep. Eventually, in more excessive cases, their schedule can fully shift to being awake for most of the night and napping for most of the day.
But don’t panic.
There are really easy ways to prevent baby mixing up their days and nights. Here are some tips for preventing this and for fixing it if it’s happened to you:
Cap all naps at 3 hours. This will ensure that baby doesn’t get their main quota of sleep during the day. If you want to know more about this, check out my video on capping naps:
Have those first weeks of naps in natural light and night sleep in pitch black. This will help baby to clarify what daytime is and what night time is.
And if your baby has almost completely flipped their days and nights, book an Ask Me Anything Call with one of our sleep coaches. They will give you action points to get that schedule clicked into place.
Enjoy the bliss of these newborn days. And when it gets tough? Know that you are not alone.
Want a refresher on the first few weeks of baby’s life? Grab a cup of tea and watch my free video here:
Sleep Sweetly,
Anna