Is it night or daytime? Have I struck eye? How many hours have passed since we went to bed? Why do you cry now? And, above all, does the baby breathe? These are some of the questions we ask parents when we spend the first nights with the baby.
A few nights of insomnia, which often go wandering the fine fabric that separates reality from reverie, a few nights of tiredness and worry, especially for first-time parents. How to survive the first nights with the baby?
These first days, in the hospital or when we return home, the mother is usually exhausted due to the effort of childbirth, so the father has to be attentive to everything that can help, especially at night: bring the baby to the mother to breastfeed, change the diaper ...
Also during the day, if the father takes care of the house, the food, the visits (or to avoid the annoying visits)… the mother will be more rested. Remember, the baby needs calm and tranquility and in a certain way its surroundings, we can transmit these sensations (or the opposite).
Crying baby
The first nights we will be struck by doubts regarding breastfeeding, gas, poop and above all, why does the baby cry? The causes can be diverse and probably calm down by picking it up or feeding it.
The baby may be hungry, but if he is already crying, we are late. Then, if you notice it restless, it moves, makes noises, we can react earlier and avoid crying by breastfeeding.
The crying baby can also be cold, afraid ... Remember that a baby that does not see you, does not smell you, does not hear you and does not feel you do not know that you exist. Most likely, just taking it in his arms everything happens (for now).
Many parents have the positive experience of having put the baby in bed with them for a better rest (always following the recommendations for a safe bribery). Each family has to try the best way to spend the nights.
What we cannot pretend is that there is a "magic" method for the baby to sleep. We need a lot of patience and love those first nights (and probably many others).
And it is that the doubts and the events that in broad daylight seem less worrisome, more salvageable, late in the morning and with an exhausting dream they can get to despair.
If it is still, because it is still; if it moves, because it moves
First time parents worry that the baby is still, but also that he does not sleep. We face so many new things, unknown, that everything seems like a challenge. We get scares and dislikes, we are especially sensitive to everything that happens with the baby.
Words like "sudden death" stalk and frighten new parents those first nights, but we don't need to spend all the time checking if the baby is breathing. Nor do you worry about doing it, we have all peeked over the baby to see that he is still breathing, placing his hand on his breast or face.
But if you don't hear him, he sleeps quietly. Take advantage to do the same. Really. Take the opportunity to rest because that dream will not last long, which is normal and healthy and soon the baby will wake up. Babies who sleep through the night within a few months are a Rare avis. Sometimes it will seem to you that not even ten minutes have elapsed between one shot and another and we ask ourselves, how is that possible?
Yes, it may not be ten minutes but it can be 30 or 40. We may think that the shots are linked, it is what the baby needs at the time and you have to forget about clocks and schedules when giving breastfeeding, however much it costs us those first nights. And is that the alarm clock does not stop when it comes to starting a new day ...
Little by little, the baby will lengthen the dream and with him we. The first nights with the baby can be confusing, exhausting, but also unforgettable. And for the first time we have with us that new person that has changed our lives.
Photos | Thinkstock
In Babies and more | What happens to the mind after giving birth? The emotional state of the mother after childbirth, What is sudden infant death syndrome ?, Ten tips to survive after returning home with the baby
