Normal Newborn Behaviours

To mark International Breastfeeding week, Debra Hennessy, IBCLC, Family Nursing and Home Care (FNHC), and Deborah McCoy, Infant Feeding Specialist Midwife, Health for Community Services (HCS), have collaborated on a series of blog posts to celebrate the week.

Many of you reading this blog have most likely just entered the sometimes scary world of parenthood. You have purchased every piece of equipment you think your baby will need until they are toddling around, and your previously tidy house now might resemble the baby department of a shop.

Your baby arrives home, you place them in the beautiful crib that someone has bought you or it maybe a family heirloom and they just cry and cry. It’s not because they don’t like the crib, it’s because they want to be snuggled up close to you.

Your baby has spent, in most cases, 9 months in its perfect baby cave, your tummy. With a never-ending supply of nutrition warmth and security. The baby can hear your heartbeat, your voice and voices of family members, white noise and the odd bark of a dog or two.

Newborns really do require very little as they adjust to life on the outside. They do need:

Warmth as they have had a constant body temperature for 9 months and it’s cold when they are not with you.
Food, they have always had all their nutritional requirements met and now they feel hungry. Their tiny tummies need fueling frequently so wanting to go to the breast often is normal and you are not overfeeding them.
Security. Newborn babies don’t like to be alone, they have always been with you and heard your voice and heartbeat, it is also a very a basic survival instinct, when they are with you, they feel safe.
Love. When you hold your baby close, you release the hormone oxytocin (also known as the love hormone), this helps you to bond with your baby, reduces stress levels and supports your baby’s brain development too. It stimulates your baby’s instinct to feed at the breast and releases and increases a hormone called prolactin which ensures your baby has a plentiful milk supply as the days and weeks go by.

Remember you can’t spoil your baby by picking them up and cuddling them.

Newborns will be unsettled in the first few days of their life, don’t worry , you will get to know what they want in time, but relax, cuddle, feed, and love your baby and the rest will follow.