Brand new borns and sleep

Newborns and sleep brings up many questions. Actually brand newborns don’t bring up questions about sleep because mostly they sleep well for the first two weeks or so.  Most of them do anyway.  Some are unsettled from birth but they are the minority.

Newborns typically are sleepy in the first 24hours of life.  Perhaps they are tired from the birthing process  in the case of a long vaginal birth. Or perhaps they are simply not hungry and feel quite satisfied still in the case of a caesarean birth where they haven’t expended a lot of energy. This is also raises questions in the case of a caesarean after a long labour, I would think the baby did expend some energy in this case.

Most babies are born with fat stores to give them some insulation in the first few days of life until the breastmilk of the mother comes in. The fat stores are often enough to sustain them until they get the nice fat milk when the milk finally arrives in larger volumes.

For whatever reason, and there are different theories as with most things, babies in the first 24 hours are usually pretty sleepy and content, perhaps feeding a few times but not usually frequently. We don’t know everything about newborns and sleep, however as time goes on we are thankfully learning more and more.

The colostrum  in the first days before breastmilk comes in that is available is believed to have all the energy, antibodies and fluid a newborn requires to sustain  him or her until more fattier milk can be supplied.  Certainly from observing and caring for babies in this time, in most cases it is certainly adequate.  Having said that, some babies need a little more and those that are offered more will take it eagerly and so continue with a preference for good solid volumes to feel satisfied.

In the second 24 hours, babies tend to want to feed more and newborns and sleep do not seem to go hand in hand.  Many mothers will attest to the sleep deprivation and fatigue they feel at this time as their baby wants and needs to suck almost continuously at the breast until the milk comes in.  While there isn’t large volumes of milk at the time, there is usually sufficient with frequent feeding to satisfy them enough for short periods and still giving them enough calories  to sustain until the milk comes in.

Thankfully usually on about day 3 of life, the milk comes in in larger volumes.  This satisfies the baby by filling up their tummy and allowing him or her to rest , feel satisfied and to sleep.

Sometimes the milk is delayed and we usually say 3-5 days for milk to come in. In some circumstances the milk may be delayed up to weeks or months later.

So, brand newborns and sleep is usually  no problem, and doesn’t bring up too many questions initially.  It is later that questions arise over newborns and sleep when they start to wake up a little and find out more about their surroundings and how things work in extra uterine life.