Ever wondered what a night with us by your side as a breastfeeding parent with a newborn? We will share a night in the life in today's blog.
I'd like to preface this by saying that every family is unique and every fourth trimester looks and feels a little different. Some moms have few bumps in the road while others are thrown all the curveballs while blindfolded. We are here for it all, if you zig we zag, if you dip, I dip, we dip!
We can't cover every scenario and all the possibilities in a single blog.
Please keep that in mind as you read and if you are imagining details outside of this I can guarantee we've seen nearly all of it at some point and our support remains steady, calm, and encouraging. If you are formula-feeding, be sure to read this blog, written just for you!
Essentially the night starts with your specialist arriving at your home.
As she enters she says a quick hello to any welcoming caregivers, pets, and siblings, quietly removes her shoes, and washes her hands without being asked. A conversation begins. Some common things we chat about are when you ate last, how often your baby is nursing, any challenges you've faced so far, and an overview of the day is shared. Your specialist asks how you might like or envision the night to go. She'll take all of that conversation into consideration as well as what you communicated you wanted before bringing your baby home and on your intake form. Then, make helpful suggestions keeping your goals in mind. We hope you take these suggestions because we see this daily and offer a less emotional, objective perspective on things. However, we're just as happy to follow your lead, after all this is your journey and we are simply here to support you!
A nice warm shower awaits you while your specialist and newborn get acquainted.
Once you've refreshed in the shower and slid into a snazzy pair of postpartum panties you climb into your comfy bed your baby is brought to you with a fresh diaper and appetite. You get to snuggle and feed your baby. At the same time, your specialist refills your insulated water cup and gets a quick lay of the land to familiarize herself with newborn care items and anything else she may need such as diapers, wipes, burp cloths, pacifiers, baby clothes, swaddles, camera/monitor, the bathroom, and a quick peek into the laundry room and kitchen. Your specialist checks in with you to be sure you and baby are safe, to help with positioning and latch if needed, and to work her magic to wake up your newborn so they can finish their feed.
Once complete she will take your little one and allow you to slip into a sweet slumber and she will take over baby duties until it's time for the baby to return.
While you sleep your newborn will be taken care of by a gentle and experienced baby whisperer. She'll burp, change diapers, and soothe your sweetpea until it's time to place them safely in their crib or bassinet and get some sleep. We practice safe sleep every time so it's one less thing you'll need to worry about. We also have the skills and come prepared to help set you and your little one up for healthy sleep associations from day one.
Through the night it's like a dance.
You'll sleep, wake to nurse your baby every 2-2.5 hours, hydrate, eat a snack we've prepared and brought to you because you will forget to eat, a quick bathroom trip, and back to bed to get oh-so-sweet sleep while you can.
If you're pumping all of this looks a bit different.
Different, not better, not harder, just different. For some exclusively pumping is preferred or needed. For others, it's straight from the tap. And for most, it's a combination of both and maybe a bit of formula in the beginning. So, throughout this blog think about pumps, pump parts, bottles, and cleaning those. Preparation of formula. Storage of breastmilk and formula. It's all of the things!
For the next few paragraphs, we'll take a side road that will lead us back to what a night with a postpartum & infant care specialist can be like.
Buckle up!
Write this down. It's important! Your breastfed newborn will need to eat at LEAST 10-12 times a day. That's AT least every 2-2.5 hours. This is true for at least the first 3 weeks or so. Trust me, as a specialist who does this work every day and is efficient and knowledgeable it's not this simple. If you go it alone, without a postpartum & infant care specialist by your side, by the time you start the process of getting up to feed your newborn and finish the process, you're left with about an hour to "sleep".
How this next part is possible, I don't know.
You are exhausted! I mean like you've never been exhausted before. It's like you're in a daze, you can't believe it's real, yet it is very very real. Your baby is now asleep, but you can not just fall asleep. It can take 20 minutes or more at times. You're left with how much time to sleep now? Don't cry, we're here, just hire early!
Also, keep in mind you're not just whipping out your breasts and feeding a baby.
You're learning to feed your baby and your baby is learning to breastfeed. I know, I know some of you are saying, "All babies have the sucking reflex." They do! But breastfeeding is a learned skill that takes a lot of practice for most moms and babies, I assure you!
You're also doing all the other things!
You're burping, diapering (and possibly more than one diaper a feeding), and alternating between trying to soothe a screaming newborn and trying to keep them awake. While you're also logging diapers and tracking feeds. You're reawakening your newborn who was literally wide awake, screaming, and hungry before nursing for 3 minutes and zonking out because your breasts are like magic sleep pillows! Sounds wild, huh? Now, imagine that's not just a story, it's your life!
What I described is indeed a wildly accurate picture of nights with a newborn.
Meanwhile, your little one is doing all the newborn things. They're farting, sharting, peeing, and poopy (your specialist is tracking those). They're making noises and doing the funky breathing that always weirds new parents out even when they knew this was a thing before their baby was born, but don't remember anyone warning them about it.
Throughout the night your specialist can handle all the things so your focus can be on sleep, making milk, and feeding your baby!
She is either in the room with your baby or has the camera/monitor with her, her ears are always on while she rests near your baby in anticipation of their next need. We are doing the other things so you don't have to. While she is with you and you're not nursing/ pumping you use this time to truly tune out and rest because lord knows you need it.
Night after night she supports your choices and keeps your goals for parenting in mind.
She anticipates your needs and communicates clearly. She could wash up your pump parts and have them ready for the next go. She encourages you while validating your feelings, and she genuinely wants you to feel like the amazing mom you are! Your specialist reminds you that it won't be this way forever. She finishes baby laundry and restocks the nursery with diapers, wipes, and burp cloths. She'll prepare yummy snacks for you and keep that water bottle refilled.
As morning breaks it's time for your specialist to head home.
She will follow the departure plan that you all previously discussed ensuring that your baby is safe and that you or another caregiver or parent will hear/see your little one at the first sign you're needed. She will make sure you receive a log of tracked diapers, etc. All of this is done in a way that allows you to get those last few minutes of much-needed sleep before duty calls!
Over time your baby grows and their needs change.
You grow in confidence and start feeling more rested, and better equipped to handle motherhood and everything that comes with having a family. Eventually, you have milk pumped for overnight bottles now and then or are exclusively nursing and your baby is going slightly longer stretches through the night.
Throughout your time together things will evolve.
You may have a second specialist join your family early on or down the road as your needs change. Everything is kept cohesive because we are a true team. We function as a team. We know and communicate with each other for the benefit of the families we work with and the growth of the company.
We come to you with a multitude of skills ready to help you reach your goals!
Each specialist at The Jax Baby Company is hand-selected, highly qualified, and follows the same guidelines and standards that The JBC is known for. All of your specialists are unique individuals who bring different talents to the table. We can all prepare meals/snack prep, but one of us is a master at it. We can each help with babywearing, but a few of us are babywearing magicians. We can all provide sibling care, but a couple of us speak fluent toddler.
Along the way, your specialists come up with helpful ways of doing things to make your life easier and show you how they did it. Making your life a little less stressful and a little more happy, The Jax Baby Company just gets it! We know you're always caring for your baby, in everything you do. In everything we do, we are caring for you. In doing so we know you'll feel your best and your cup runneth over!
Now, imagine your time with us comes to an end. Imagine writing these reviews.
Please, go read some of them. You owe it to yourself to have this type of experience during your fourth trimester.
Is it easier now to envision what a night with us by your side as a breastfeeding parent can be like? Can you clearly see some of the challenges you'll face and how that might impact your confidence in early parenting both with our support and without? Not sure you're going to breastfeed? Know you're not? I know some of you are already thinking, "And that's why I'm formula feeding/pumping." That's okay, we have another blog written just for formula-feeding parents too!
Authored by Elizabeth Luke
Elizabeth is the founder and CEO of The Jacksonville Baby Company. Elizabeth and her husband and best friend, Richard are parents to four children. With certifications in Postpartum and Infant Care Support, Childbirth and Newborn Care Education, Lactation Support, and Infant Sleep, she is a wealth of knowledge and has a heart that is passionate about helping parents live their best lives while also ensuring their children are safe, happy, and leading their healthiest lives possible! Reach out today to meet Elizabeth!
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