The good news about night feeds is they don’t last forever. This blog will give you my tips and advice on getting through them. I can honestly say before you know it, your gorgeous newborn will be sleeping through the night like my picture below 🙂 My daughter was 9 weeks old when she first slept through the night. I remember jumping up, looking over and there she was still fast asleep, that’s when I got this milestone card out and thought I have to capture this moment!
Tip 1 – Night and day
The best advice I’ve received since becoming a mum is to get your baby used to night and day. That is to open up the curtains/blinds and let the light shine in, be noisy and get the hoover out while the baby is sleeping. Don’t be afraid to let their siblings (if they have any) make plenty of noise too! Then of a night shut the curtains/blinds and have low-lighting in the room to make it cosy and make less noise too.
Tip 2 – Night Feeds
Preparation is key whether you are breastfeeding or bottle feeding. I’m bottle feeding my daughter, so before I go to bed I make sure I have enough bottles sterilised for the night ahead and formula milk. I am using the Tommee Tippee prep machine so my bottles will be ready after 2 clicks of a button – I do highly recommend this machine.
However, if you don’t have this machine, I have in the past made up a bottle (knowing she will be awake in an hour or two) and let the bottle cool down in a Tommee Tippee insulated bottle bag which is great to use for keeping the bottle warm. For mums breastfeeding make sure you have easy access pyjamas for the night ahead.
Tip 4 – Burping/winding is REALLY important
I tell my 7 and 12 year old if they need to fart or burp to excuse themselves especially if we are out at a restaurant or at a public place! However for my newborn daughter that rule goes out of the window! I want her to burp and fart as much as she can. There is nothing worse seeing and hearing a newborn cry with pains.
Winding is such an important part of feeding. As the baby drinks its milk, air bubbles can become trapped in their tummy and can cause discomfort and pain. There are no rules on when you need to wind/burp your baby some need it during their feed and some after, as all babies are different!
My daughter needs burping after her bottle. The best position I find to burp her was to sit her up, then I use my hand to support her head, make sure her tummy and back is straight and use my other hand to rub and pat her back gently for a few minutes. Sometimes I would place her on my shoulder, like the picture below and again gently rub her back.
If no wind does come up, I do a little trick, it’s worked with all three of my girls. That is, I lay my baby back into my arms and then lift her straight back up into the winding position. Any trapped wind in her tummy will come straight out. As I said before, all babies are different and I’m sure you may have tips and tricks on winding your baby and if you do please share them in the comments box below 🙂
Tip 4 – Nappy changing
I have always changed my daughters nappy first before a feed as it stimulates and wakes her up. Yes she does have a good cry during her nappy change. Then I get myself comfy in a chair or sometimes sat up in bed ready to feed her. During her feed sometimes my daughter will fall asleep. With her nappy already changed. I can place her back into her crib/basket. Then I pillow dive back into my bed for more sleep!
Sometimes my daughter does poo during her feed (ahhhh) and I’ll change her nappy when she’s finished. Then either carry on feeding or if she has finished feeding I will place her awake into her crib/basket.
Tip 5 – Share the night feeds shifts
Whether it’s your husband, partner or best friend, always ask for help. As although I try to be a supermum there are times I need a break and some more sleep.
What me and my husband do through the night is we help each other and both wake up when she wants feeding. My husband would make her bottle, while I changed her nappy. Then one of us would feed her while the other went back to sleep. We took it in turns to feed her during the night which really worked well. Don’t get me wrong we do have our falling out moments as all new parents do. But we never argued over night feeds as we both work together.
Tip 6 – Don’t snooze
As my daughter does have a dummy. It was so easy to give her the dummy and stay in bed for an extra 5-10 minutes. This is so tempting to do. And needs avoiding. I don’t want my baby to be really upset and cry, to the point she is exhausted to feed fully. It’s good to keep the night feeding pattern going, which she feeds every 3 hours.
Tip 7 – Don’t stay awake through night feeds
I have stayed awake and waited for the next feed. Believe me it doesn’t work and sleep is needed even when it’s disturbed. I found I would be moody and exhausted during the day which is not good nor healthy for new mums like me and the newborn baby. Babies I think can pick up on the mood swings of their mum. I find if I am feeling ok and happy, my baby is calm and chirpy.
Tip 8 – Know when your baby is hungry
It is so tempting as a new mum to pick my baby up when she has a little cry. As the midwife said to me you can never give your baby too many cuddles. I do this during the day when my blinds are open allowing the daylight to shine bright in the room. Through the night, sleep is needed. Yes there are times my baby did wake up well before her feed and when she does I place her dummy in her mouth and she settles back down. My daughter does have a dummy as did my eldest daughter, but my middle daughter Mia didn’t want a dummy at all. It goes to show all babies are different! But I know a good trick on saying goodbye to their dummy which worked a treat on my eldest daughter Holly – BLOG on this to come soon 😉
I hope these night feed tips help. My final tip is to cherish and embrace that time you have with your newborn. The night feeds made me feel tired and exhausted from having disturbed sleep. But as I said above these night feeds don’t last forever.
