Coping Strategies With A New Baby This mini-guide is here to help you understand what to expect of your new baby, how to survive for a short period on limited stretches of sleep, tips for comforting your baby and helping her to get the best rest she can.

1. Back to Sleep, Tummy to Play

Whilst current guidelines tell us to place our babies down on their backs for sleep, it is also important to give them some tummy time for a few minutes several times every day

2. It’s Important to Meet Your Baby’s Needs

You cannot spoil a new baby and it is important to meet her needs. So if she is hungry, feed her and if she is sleepy, help her to sleep. Do not worry about forming ‘bad habits’ with sleep because young babies do need our help in the early months. Anything you do now that you don’t want to become a lasting practice, can easily be undone and re-shaped around the age of four months+

3. Find what Soothing Techniques Work for Your Baby

Every baby is different and they like different things to soothe them. You can always try the five ’S’ which are Shhh-ing, Swaddling, Swinging, Side Holding and Suckling as these are proven to help relax a fractious baby. You will start to notice whether a stroke on the head or a pat on the bottom is something he takes comfort from or whether he is just too stimulated by your presence.

4. Establish Consistent & Flexible Routines

The rhythm of the day will help your baby to feel comforted and safe so a flexible (not regimented) routine will help. It also helps babies to get into a napping pattern and feeding routine too. Some babies do this naturally on their own while others need a little helping along by setting up some cues to signal to your baby what is happening next and establishing a pattern of feeding, activity, sleep time and repeating this throughout the day.

5. Learn your baby’s Sleepy Cues and put them down when tired

Some babies yawn, rub their eyes, become fussy or pull at their ears when tired while others show no signs at all or not until they are totally exhausted. If you have a rough idea of how long your baby can last awake in any one stretch, then you can watch for sleepy cues at around that length of time since waking. It takes some time to recognise these cues and be aware that once your baby

starts showing these signs, he is about to cross the line into the overtired zone and a ‘second wind’ could be on it’s way to sabotage any attempts of your baby settling to sleep! The advice here is, if you spot any sleepy cues, you’re running out of time and that settling window is closing fast.

6. Respect Daytime Sleep make naps a priority

Daytime sleep is absolutely vital to having a well-rested baby who will stand a better chance of sleeping well at night. Do not be mislead into thinking that by wearing your baby out, she will sleep better at night as the opposite is actually true. A new baby can only be awake for about 45 minutes before needing another sleep and naps will be irregular in length and very disorganised for the first few months. Whilst I don’t recommend tip-toeing around a nappy newborn, it is also not conducive to sleep to make a lot of unnecessary noise around her. Some say it helps to get them used to sleeping through noise but how would you like it if you were taking a nap and someone started a noisy vacuum cleaning right by you?

7. Create a Sleep Friendly Environment that is dark and non-stimulating.

As much as there are some wonderful mobiles and light shows available these days to entertain our babies as they lie in their cots or cribs, these are very visually stimulating which is not ideal when you want your baby to close his eyes. Also, some lights will actually send signals to the brain to become more awake. Instead, go for a room that is really dark at sleep times, reasonably quiet, without lots of toys surrounding your baby or moving visual stimulants. Also try to create a consistent temperature.

8. Develop a Relaxing Bedtime Routine consider including massage, bath and book.

You can do this as early as just a few weeks but by six to eight weeks it is wise to have a bedtime routine established. This needs to consist of the same steps in the same order every night to help cue your baby that night time has arrived and it is time for sleep. Babies love the rhythmicity of routine but that doesn’t mean it has to be a regimented affair. Flexible routine is fine as long as it is consistent.

9. Your Baby May Need an Earlier Bedtime most babies will be tired around 6 to 7pm

You don’t have to keep your baby up with you until that late evening feed is done. In fact, he may sleep more soundly if he has gone ‘to bed’ at a more baby suited hour. If your baby is sleeping in a carry cot or moses basket by your side in the evening, try to make the environment conducive to sleep for him.

10. Encourage a Restful Night of Sleep keep activities low key at night

When your baby wakes in the night to feed, try to keep this an uneventful and fuss free procedure. the objective is to meet your baby’s hunger need and then everyone goes back to sleep. We don’t want to encourage baby to be awake or want to play and we want to help her to differentiate night from day. If your baby needs to be changed due to being very wet or soiled, try to do the change efficiently and in as low light as possible to minimise stimulation. The less awake your abby becomes for night feeds, the more easily she should resettle afterwards if she has had a sufficient feed.

11. Try to “practice” putting your baby down Drowsy but Awake

a. After bedtime routine good time to practice

b. It may work for some babies & not work for others

c. You can try a few days/weeks later if it is not working for your baby

The term ‘drowsy but awake’ can be deceiving because it really means awake, but ready for sleep. If your baby is too drowsy, he will drop off to sleep very quickly and with very little effort which means you have helped him pretty much all the way. By being a little more awake will encourage your baby to develop essential self settling skills. We don’t expect these skills to be mastered just yet but some practice with your reassurance and comfort, can really help.

12. Sleep when your baby Sleeps! Make a plan to get the sleep you need. If needed call in support or take shifts

This one is certainly a lot easier said than done even with a first baby let alone when you have more than one to look after! However, sleeping when your baby sleeps is the only way to maximise your rest time in the early months so grab every opportunity you can and take help that is offered. It is not a lifestyle change, it is a short-term thing for a matter of weeks. Some household jobs can wait for the time being because your sleep needs to take priority.