Tag: newborn sleep

Sleep Like A Baby

- Julie Matheney

BREASTFEEDING FACT: No one sleeps all night
The reality is, no one, including adults, sleeps all night all the time. Older infants and toddlers are no exception. They often wake multiple times a night, but as they mature, they learn to put themselves back to sleep. We all go through multiple sleep cycles in a night, and toddlers actually go through more of these sleep cycles than we do. Which means they have more opportunity to get woken up from a light sleep.

Generally, there are 2 sleep stages in newborn babies and 4 sleep stages in babies over 3 months old. Newborn sleep stages are rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM). Newborns spend close to equal amounts of time in REM and NREM while they sleep.

REM is an active sleep state and NREM is a quiet sleep state. During REM, a baby can be seen making small movements. The baby’s eyes move around (while closed), their arms, legs and fingers might twitch or jerk, their breathing might speed up, and they may move their mouths. During NREM, the baby is still and doesn’t move. Around 3 months, babies begin experiencing the same sleep stages as adults.

Adults go through 4 sleep stages. These sleep stages include three stages of NREM sleep (which happen first at night) and one of REM (which happens last). The first two are lighter stages of sleep, during which a person can be easily awakened. The third stage of sleep is the deepest stage, and it is very difficult to wake someone in this stage. The fourth is REM, where dreams happen. Although babies begin experiencing 4 stages of sleep around 3 months, it is not until closer to 5-years-old that children’s sleep actually begins to mirror that of adults. As babies, they experience a short REM stage almost immediately after falling asleep instead of last in the cycle. In contrast, adults do not experience REM until they have been asleep for around 90 minutes. As a baby’s sleep schedule changes, so do their sleep cycles. Baby REM sleep is one part of the sleep cycle that changes over time. However, there is no simple chart outlining sleep cycle length or REM by age. Know that it is normal for your baby and toddler to wake frequently at night, and as they age, they will get better and better at putting themselves back to sleep.

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The Second Night

- Julie Matheney

Second Night Syndrome : What absolutely every parent should be warned about in pregnancy.

Second night syndrome. I hate the word syndrome. It implies something is wrong. For nine months your baby has been in your belly. Heard your voice. Felt your body move. Listened to the rush of your blood flow past and heard the gurgle of food digesting. Their existence controlled by the cycles of your body. Then the intensity of labor and delivery propels them into a new world that sounds, smells, and moves differently. The sheer exertion of being born often makes babies as tired as their mothers. It is typical for babies to have a deep recovery sleep about 2 hours after birth (after their 1st breastfeed).

On the second night, however, most babies will want to frequently nurse. This helps with two transitions: meconium to soft, seedy yellow poops and colostrum to mature milk. This cluster feeding catches many parents by surprise and leaves them wondering if baby is starving. Unless baby is not latched well or efficiently feeding, this is normal and the cluster feeding will help transition your milk.

Many babies, though, don’t want to be put down during this process. Each time you put them on the breast they nurses for a little bit, go back to sleep and then cry when placed in the crib. A lot of moms are convinced it is because their milk isn’t “in” yet, and baby is starving. It isn’t that, baby’s awareness that the most comforting place is at the breast. It’s the closest to “home”. This is pretty universal among babies. When baby drifts off to sleep at the breast after a good feed, break the suction and take your nipple gently out of their mouth.

This is also protective of SIDS. You’re exhausted from labor and delivery and just want to sleep. But night time is when newborns are most vulnerable to respiratory complications and SIDS. By waking you frequently at night, you are waking frequently to check on the well being of your baby when they’re at their greatest risk of infant death. Waking regularly at night for the first few months to feed also helps babies from getting into too deep of a sleep state which can cause them to stop breathing. Instead of seeing the loss of sleep as a negative for you, consider the positive reason it has for baby.

Don’t try to burp baby, just snuggle baby until they fall into a deep sleep where they won’t be disturbed by being moved. Babies go into a light sleep state (REM) first, and then cycle in and out of REM and deep sleep about every ½ hour or so. If they start to root and act as though they want to go back to breast, that’s fine… this is their way of comforting. During deep sleep, baby’s breathing is very quiet and regular, and there is no movement beneath the eyelids. That is the time to put them down.

Second night syndrome. As described above, when all is going well it is normal for baby’s to cluster feed on the second night to help milk transition and poop out meconium. Some babies do not efficiently feed, though, and intervention may be necessary.

🩺Medical interventions and pain relief during labor and delivery, maternal health complications like PCOS, uncontrolled diabetes or hypothyroidism, or large blood loss during delivery may delay the transition of your milk.

🧸If your baby not latched well, has a tongue tie, or hasn’t figured out how to coordinate sucking to actually transfer milk from the breast, intervention may also be necessary.

🖐🏽The first line of defense is hand expressing your milk frequently. Hands are better at expressing colostrum than a pump, although a pump is a great way to stimulate milk to be made.

🥄Dripping your milk into baby’s mouth from a spoon or small syringe can help jump start the feeding process.

❓If you have any doubt about either your milk supply or your baby’s ability to breastfeed well, reach out to a qualified IBCLC ASAP to get to the root issue and get you back on track.

♥️There is no shame in supplementing your baby if needed during this time of learning. Remember, you can always use your milk first by using your hands or a pump if baby hasn’t figured it out yet.

Why can’t I put my baby down to sleep?

- Julie Matheney

SLEEP IN THE FOURTH TRIMESTER

I was going back through pictures when peach was a tiny baby. I have so many pictures of her sleeping on me. Babies don’t like to be put down, especially in the first 3-4 months. All their instincts and reflexes are designed to get them on a body. Their neurological system is immature at birth and still needs time to develop. Being on your body:

🧠 Accelerates Brain Development: Holding baby on your body increases the development of essential neural pathways, which accelerates brain maturation

🧘🏽‍♀️ Calms, Soothes & Reduces Stress: Having your baby on your body soothes baby so much that babies’ cortisol levels (stress hormone) are measurably lowered after only 20 minutes of being held skin to skin. Babies who are held cry less

🛌 Improves Quality of Sleep: Development of mature brain function in infants depends on the quality of their sleep cycling. During skin to skin, most infants fall asleep easier and achieve “Quiet Sleep” for longer

⚖️Stimulates Digestion & Weight Gain: Reduces cortisol and somatostatin in babies, allowing for better absorption and digestion of nutrients. With a reduction of these hormones, baby’s bodies preserve brown fat (the healthy fat baby was born with), helping to maintain birth weight and maintain body temperature. As a result, baby’s body does not have to burn its own fat stores to stay warm, leading to in better weight gain

💪🏻 Enhances Immune System: Your mature immune system passes antibodies through your skin to baby. Being on your skin also increases baby’s skin hydration

❤️Synchronizes Heart Rate + Breathing: You are a pace maker and a respirator. Your body sets the pace for baby’s body

🔑Promotes Psychological Well-Being: As our babies touch our skin, oxytocin levels rise and stress hormones fall, causing us adults to relax

🥛Milk production: Placing baby in skin to skin on your body for 1 hour a day will show an immediate increase in milk supply

🔥Regulation of Body Temperature: Woman’s breast tissue regulates a baby’s temperature, and can either cool OR heat, a man’s breast tissue only heats baby. Female is thermostat and male is radiator

My baby mouth breathes: when should I be worried?

- Julie Matheney

Babies are obligatory nose breathers. They should be breathing through their nose all the time. This is how they can have their mouth full with a nipple during breast or bottle feeding and still breathe. Mouth breathing isn’t as efficient as nose breathing — especially when it comes to oxygen absorption in the lungs. And breathing through the nose helps to filter out bacteria and irritants from entering the body. Babies should be breathing through their nose all the time, especially during sleep. And snoring with mouth breathing is NEVER normal.

Mouth breathing as an infant can indicate several things:

🤢Nasal congestion from an illness or allergies

😛Tongue tie

👀Large tonsils/adenoids

👃🏽Deviated nasal septum

🧠Learned habit

Prolonged mouth breathing can cause:

• Atypical development of the mouth, nasal passages and face

• Poor quality sleep

• ADHD

• Increased risk of asthma

• Swollen tonsils

• Dry cough

• Inflamed tongue

• Teeth issues, like cavities and bad alignment

• Foul-smelling breath

If you notice baby mouth breathing regularly (other than when sick), please make an appointment with a health care provider to help figure out the root cause.

• Stay away from your baby’s known allergens

• Gently push the chin upward to close baby’s mouth when sleeping

• Consult with a doctor as soon as you notice baby breathing through their mouth consistently

• Put a humidifier in their room to prevent their mouth from drying out

• Have tongue tie revised and work on suck training exercises, tongue posture, and body work for proper body posture to correct habits baby made from compensating for the tie