Newborn Babies Do Not Have Sleep Problems; Their Parents Have It
Every new parent knows the feeling of complete exhaustion with anxiety and insomnia as a result of parenthood. Before we had children, we may have thought we knew what to expect after hearing stories from relatives and friends. But before you experience it for yourself, it is almost impossible to understand how tiring it can actually be to have a newborn. But it is not the babies who have sleep problems and need to learn to sleep. Their parents need it.
New parents hardly sleep at all
New parents are often surprised at how much their newborn sleeps. Babies wake up almost just to eat. But when they come across that news, they discover that it is not how much they sleep that creates problems. It is rather the awakening.
It is normal for babies to wake up often because their internal clock has no control yet.
Parents of newborns quickly turn into zombies. They sleep a few hours every night during the baby’s first months of life. In many societies in the western world, people believe that if the child wakes up, the parents often do something wrong. People ask things like “if he sleeps well”, as if it would define your child’s character.
In fact, many parents feel condemned if their children do not sleep through the night at once. But newborns do not have to learn to sleep all night – nor should they.
Parents are those who need to learn to sleep according to their child’s rhythm. Soon enough, the baby’s internal clock will be adjusted, which will also be facilitated by a proper bedtime routine. Of course, it also depends on each child’s biological maturation process.
Newborn babies do not have sleep problems. They sleep a lot, but they wake up several times during the night. They may wake up to be fed, because they are uncomfortable, because they are hot, and so on.
They can simply wake up to cuddle a little before falling asleep again. Therefore, parents need to learn to sleep without worrying about their children having a sleep problem.
Newborn babies do not sleep through the night
Newborn babies usually have no problems with their sleep. But when the little ones’ sleep rhythm does not fall in line with their own, some parents think it will be a problem.
But you can not expect your newborn to fall into your rhythm. You have to adapt to the child. There is no need to look for any secret tricks to get them to sleep through the night. If the baby is under 6 months, it is unlikely to happen.
Trying to get your baby to sleep all night for 6 months is a very unrealistic expectation. If you insist on believing that it is possible, it will only create frustration.
Newborn babies sleep most of the time, but their stomachs are very small. This means that they often get hungry. They need food every 2-3 hours, day and night.
A baby’s internal clock
During its first months of life, the baby’s internal clock is out of play. To top it all, their tiny stomachs empty very quickly. This means that the baby needs to be fed often, whether it is day or night. It is a completely normal phenomenon and is biologically predictable.
New parents need to know that this is the biggest reason why babies wake up so often. They can not – and should not – sleep through the night.
During their first year of life, the brains of these tiny people grow at a furious pace. It consumes a lot of energy, which is another reason why they have to eat so often.
Whether they are breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, they depend entirely on their parents to get the nutrition they need. Therefore, parents must be responsible for taking care of the baby’s needs to ensure a healthy development.
In our culture, the expectations of how much a child should sleep are very unrealistic. These expectations should be changed so that first-time parents can stop insisting that the baby sleep through the night.
They need to know that they are the ones who need to adapt, not the baby. Small babies do not have sleep problems, and this is something that parents must understand and respect.
