Tips For Bringing Home Baby

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The First 24-Hours at Home with Your Newborn

For 9 months you’ve been waiting for the day you get to meet the new little addition to your family. And, up to now, caring for your baby has been fairly easy — take it easy, eat healthy, and take your prenatal vitamins, but it’s all about to change.

While there’s a lot of information out there to prepare new parents for everything from what to pack in your hospital bag to labor, the first 24 hours at home could feel like you didn’t just read every parenting book available. Sure, everyone knows a newborn is pretty consistent with their eat-sleep-poop routine, but it can still be challenging when you’ve finally arrived home with your bundle of joy.

Here’s what you can expect in your first 24 hrs at home with your baby.

While newborns sleep about 75% of the time, your newborn hasn’t developed their circadian rhythm yet, so frequent wakeups are common. The usual culprits to these periodic wakeups are hunger or a dirty diaper, but at midnight, the key is to fix the problem without disrupting the baby too much. When babies are first born, they are easily overstimulated by sound and light because they are just growing accustomed to being outside the womb. So, if you can fix the WHY behind their wake-up quietly and with just a nightlight, the chances of your little one, and you, quickly dipping back into deep sleep are much higher.

Another thing to think about is what to dress your baby in at night. One way to start helping your baby distinguish between day and night when you first bring them home is clothing. When the sun sets on your new baby’s first day home, get them ready for sweeter sleep with gently weighted Zen Sleepwear. The Nested Bean Grow With Me Bundle is the perfect way to aid your baby’s sleep from their first night at home through 6 months of age.

Now, as your baby sleeps, every new parent is on high alert and checking if their baby has stopped breathing. This worry can be heightened due to something called periodic breathing, periods of pause between breaths that last up to 10 seconds. While nerve-wracking, this is completely normal and can actually be a sign that your baby is in deep sleep. Some signs to look out for can be a pause in breathing that lasts 15 seconds or more or irregularly fast breathing. As always, if you have any questions ask your doctor, but these are the general rules of thumb to keep in mind during baby’s first night home to keep your mind at ease.

But what about during the day while your baby is awake? All the new sights, sounds, and smells throughout the day can distract your newborn from their much-needed rest. This overstimulation can cause them to lose sleep and then doze off when they should be eating. Proper nourishment, especially during this stage, is integral for development, so make sure to give your baby lots of opportunities to nurse. Basically, breastfeed anytime they wake up during these first 24-hours at home with your newborn.

Babies are going to change your life. They are going to change every day and if you’re flexible you can roll with the changes and enjoy all the moments. Just when you think they have a schedule, they will grow and everything will change again. But, enjoy the journey!

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Lisa Ehrman

Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.

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