Docyard Baby’s first winter? Tips to follow

Cool breeze, fog and early morning mist are all signs of the winter chills. From infants to adults to the elderly, the weather makes everyone feel the chill. While the latter might help themselves by wearing sweaters and having hot coffee, those who need care are our infants, especially premature babies. Therefore, mothers should always guard and protect the child especially in this season.

For new mothers, one of the most quintessential worry is planning the schedule of feeding time. Infants usually tend to sleep longer in winters. Most mothers are worried of feeding the child properly, some are worried with the infant sleeping longer than usual in winters. Since newborns sleep longer in winters, many mothers don’t want to wake up their babies for breastfeeding, but that can lead to clogged milk ducts, so mothers need to take extra care during winters. Mothers can feed every two hours to establish the skin to skin contact or can express milk and feed later. A few things to keep in mind pertaining to sleep patterns and feeding schedule:

Changing sleep patterns: The good and the bad

Let’s start with a fun fact, cooler temperature means deeper sleep. This is more noticeable in baby’s sleeping pattern. As days get shorter and nights get longer in winters, the schedule changes with baby’s bedtime which gets a little earlier than summers. This is normal as soon as the sun sets earlier, it’s natural for the baby to want to go to bed earlier. But if the earlier bedtimes are causing your baby to wake earlier then the need is to take action and shift the baby’s schedule.  That can happen because a baby’s overall sleep tend to remain the same from day to day, so if more of that sleep is happening at night, then less will happen during the day. If that’s a problem, then you may need to work on naps by shortening the baby's night time sleep, leaving more sleep available for nap time.

Preemies find it difficult to sleep: Premature babies face difficulty in settling into a pattern of waking, sleeping and learning the difference between day and night. Part of the reason for this difficulty is that premature babies’ brains are less developed than are those of full-term babies. Therefore, a preemie mom must always stay patient and considerate with the baby, as their brains are going through maturation that other babies finished while in the womb. Plan your schedule with two goals. One, which is more focussed on breastfeeding. Two, make them rest, so that they grow faster.

Keep a check on the feeding schedule: Getting into a routine with your baby is a personal connect. Though babies can sleep for up to 16 hours in a day, these periods of sleep often last for only two to four hours at a time depending on the child’s feeding schedule. The perfect time of day to feed your baby is whatever time works for both.

• Breastmilk up to 32 ounces should be fed to the baby in a 24-hour period. This diet is sufficient to provide all essential nutrition to the baby in its initial days. For premature babies, mothers should feed them more.
• In between the feeding schedule, what mothers need to focus is a proper break through naps and playing time. About 14 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period is essential for the growing graduate. Two-three naps during the day and some play time to help him grow. This time of playing will not only help him develop but also strengthen your bond with the baby. Give him massage, a walk on a stroller or just read to him, these things coupled with good feeds will enable him to have a sound sleep.
• Feeding to sleep is also one of the ways to get newbies to sleep and feed at the same time. Tired babies will often fall asleep when feeding. Plus, newborns can only cope with being awake for about an hour at a time, so if feeding take a while, it becomes more and more likely baby will nod off while feeding.

This will act like a habit for the baby as they would want to be fed back to sleep every time they wake in the night, which is an average 4-6 times for babies over five months.

(The writer is Child Birth Educator & Lactation specialist, Diwakar Speciality Hospital, Bangalore)