After Midnight
Long days and sleepless nights are exhausting, especially when parents are just beginning to learn the rhythms of their new baby and recover from childbirth. One of the most popular ways a postpartum doula supports parents is through overnight care. In the early days after welcoming your newborn into your home, I am able to help you get the rest you need, so that you have energy for your family and your life. Parents say that having postpartum overnight support brings them peace during a tremendous life transition. I am often asked what overnight care looks like, so I thought I would give you a peek into an overnight with me.
8pm- I arrive ready to care for your newborn for the evening. I meet with you and go over your day and routine. You will get me up to date on baby’s sleep patterns and other rhythms, and I answer any questions you might have. We can work on swaddling techniques, baby carrying, and we can even give baby her first few baths together. Establishing a supportive nighttime routine is important for developing positive sleep habits, so we work on those routines from the very beginning.
10 pm- Sweet dreams! You are off to bed, ready to get some much needed sleep. While you rest, I get organized for the evening, ensuring that the diaper station is well stocked, bottles and parts are clean and sterilized for the night, pumped breastmilk is organized for storage, changes of clothes and swaddles are at hand. While baby sleeps, I will wash, fold, and put away some of her copious piles of laundry.
“Each family is unique in their rhythms, but not in their need to sleep.”
11 pm- When it is time for your baby’s feeding, I change your little one and get her ready to eat. If bottle fed; I feed, burp, re-swaddle, and get the baby back to sleep. For breastfeeding moms, we will have a pre-discussed plan for each feed. For some moms, this means a text to let you know baby is up with a loud alert text tone so mom can join us in the nursery. For some moms, this means I bring your baby to your room for a quick and comfortable feeding in bed. Other moms chose to pump at specific times during the night instead of waking to breastfeed on demand. In this case, you set your alarm and pump at these planned times. I retrieve the milk and pump parts outside your bedroom door, storing the milk and sanitizing the pump parts, having them ready for their next use. There is no one way for overnight feedings to work best, feeding your baby in the way that is most comfortable for parents and baby is the best choice for your family!
We keep each feeding quiet and dark, establishing healthy sleep habits and solid night sleep from day one. After each feeding, you go right back to bed, getting as much sleep as possible during these nighttime hours. I get baby settled and back to sleep. We will follow a great sleep routine, helping your little one to sleep longer stretches of time each night. I stay in the guest room or nursery with baby throughout the night. I will close my eyes and rest while baby rests for remainder of the night, but will be ready to jump up and care for baby if he or she needs me. Having years of experience working with newborns, I will be up with your little one through any challenges your family may face while you get some much needed sleep, allowing you to be at your best the following day.
5:30am- I wash and sanitize all bottles and pump parts used during the night before getting ready to leave in the morning. I update the log with any notes about diaper changes, feedings, and sleep during the overnight hours. We will have a pre-planned system for our handoff each morning just before 6:00am. For some families, I bring baby into the parents’ room so everyone can continue sleeping until baby’s next feeding time. For some families, I bring the baby monitor to the parents and they listen in while baby continues sleeping in his or her crib. Some parents are ready to wake up and start their day at 6:00 and meet for hand off. At 6:00am, I head out and will see you again at 8:00pm.
