Tackling Newborn Day and Night Confusion

While in the womb, babies have no concept of night and day. This is what paves the way to day and night confusion in newborns. In fact, pregnant mums often observe their baby's heightened activity at night when they're trying to sleep, and decreased activity during the day, likely influenced by the soothing motion of mum's daily movements.

After birth, babies have elevated levels of maternal melatonin, making them extra sleepy in their first days to weeks. While they will feed in regular intervals around the clock, waking equally in the night and day for feeds, they experience minimal alert or awake time between these feeds.

But as the initial weeks pass, you'll notice a gradual increase in their alertness, resembling a 'waking up' phase, and these periods of wakefulness will not always align naturally with daytime. It's not uncommon to find them wide awake in the middle of the night and unusually sleepy during the day, which can be exhausting for new parents!

Thankfully, you can guide them in learning their day from night with a few simple steps.