Sleep promotes weight gain and healing so promote sleep and rest for your baby, let a sleeping baby sleep.
While your baby is sleeping spend time at the bedside looking lovingly at your baby. This will help you to get to know your baby. Watch activities and expressions and get to know baby's personality.
- Provide containment holding during and after treatments and/or procedures. This is where you hold your left hand on baby's head and your right hand is resting on baby's chest or feet and supporting baby.
- Discuss with your baby's nurse a schedule to have regular time with your baby, ringing in the morning to find out how baby has been and what time the feeds are likely to be.
- Set up a phone routine to speak with your baby's nurse if you cannot get in for any reason. You may phone the unit at any time of course but being aware of the times of your baby's feeds and cares and the nurses shift patterns will help you get a working schedule going.
- Take pictures and videos and share them with your family.
- Use the parent sitting room to read, watch television and chat with other parents.
- Visit the shops, cafeteria or go for a walk in the grounds of the park. This will help you to occupy your time, refresh yourself and promote your milk production if you are expressing.
- We encourage you to have visitors but try not to have too many at once and also try not to pass baby around. Sleep promotes weight gain and healing.
As a new Mum you do need to rest and Dads need to support Mum and to get to know their baby. Some Dads take time off when your baby is born, others return to work so they can have time off when your baby goes home. This is an individual choice and has to be weighed up within each couple and family. There is no right or wrong way to come to this decision. Often employers are sympathetic to this situation and negotiation at this time with employers is best.