Newborn Babies Don’t Have Sleeping Problems, But Their Parents Do
Every new parent knows the feeling of complete and utter exhaustion when faced with the anxiety and insomnia of parenthood. Before they have children, some may think they know what will happen when they hear stories from friends and family. But until they experience it firsthand, they really have no idea how exhausting life with a newborn can really be. But babies don’t have sleeping problems, but their parents do.
New parents who hardly sleep
New parents are often surprised by how much their newborn babies sleep. In fact, they often claim that their little ones only wake up to eat. But once they’ve got through that novelty, they’ll see that it’s not the time for the baby to sleep that causes problems. On the contrary, it is his awakening. But it’s normal for babies to wake up frequently; their internal clock is uncontrollable.
Parents of newborns quickly turn into zombies. They sleep very few hours a night during the first months of their baby’s life. In many western societies, people believe that if a baby wakes up frequently, it means that the parents are doing something wrong. People ask things like “Is she a good sleeper? as if this somehow defines your baby’s character.
The truth is, many parents feel judged if their babies don’t sleep right through. But newborns don’t need to learn to sleep to sleep through the night, and they shouldn’t.
Parents are the ones who have to learn to sleep according to their baby’s sleeping patterns. Soon enough, their child’s internal clock will adjust itself with the help of a good nighttime routine. And, of course, this will also depend on each child’s biological maturity.
Newborn babies do not have sleeping problems. They sleep a lot but wake up a few times a night. Babies may wake up to eat because they are uncomfortable, because they are hot, etc.
They even wake up because they just want some cuddle time before falling back asleep. Therefore, new parents must learn to sleep without worrying that their baby has a sleeping problem.
Newborn babies don’t have sleeping problems, but they don’t sleep through the night
Newborn babies do not have sleeping problems. But when their little one’s sleep pattern doesn’t match their own, some parents find it a problem.
But you can’t expect a baby to adjust to your routine. You have to adapt to hers. You don’t have to find secret formulas to get your little one to sleep through the night. If she is less than 6 months old, this probably won’t happen.
Trying to get a baby under 6 months old to sleep through the night is a very unrealistic expectation. If you insist on thinking this is possible, it will only be a cause for much frustration.
Newborn babies sleep a lot of the time, but their stomachs are very small. This means that they get hungry very often. They should be fed every 2-3 hours, day and night.
A baby’s internal clock
During the first months of life, a baby’s internal clock is disrupted. And on top of that, their little bellies empty quickly. This means that babies need to be fed frequently, day and night. This is a completely normal phenomenon and is biologically predictable.
New parents should know that this is the main reason why babies wake up so often. They can – and should not – sleep through the night.
During their first year of life, the brains of these little people grow at an amazing rate. This is an activity that consumes a lot of energy, which is another reason why babies need to eat often.
Whether breastfed or bottle-fed, babies are completely dependent on their parents to get the nutrition they need. Therefore, parents are responsible for feeding and caring for the needs of their babies to ensure healthy development.
In our culture, expectations regarding the extent to which a baby should sleep are highly unrealistic. These expectations need to change so new parents stop insisting their babies sleep through the night.
They need to know that they are the ones who need to adapt, rather than expecting their baby to. Little babies don’t need to be ‘taught’ to sleep more and this is something parents need to understand.
