The Fourth Trimester

Have you heard of „the fourth trimester” term yet? It’s the name I like to call the first three months of a child’s life. This time should also be spent in the mother’s womb, that is why you need to organize a good substitution. How to do that? I have some clues for you.

Movement

The first thing that is changing for the baby after birth is… stop of movement. Being part of a mother’s life means you move a lot. That is why rocking is such a natural way to fall asleep for newborns. They need to be rocked to calm down, because it is pretty similar to womb movement. Although it may get tricky and your baby may easily get addicted to rocking. You should not let that happen.

Sounds

The baby also needs to hear familiar sounds, like a heartbeat and blood flow. If you get close together, hug or breastfeed - it is enough for the baby. But you cannot provide the sound all day long. But you may substitute it with white noise. There are white noise apps available, or the MP3 record will work as well.

Sensation

The other thing that the newborn baby is used to is… confined space. Your baby does not need a lot of space at first, especially when trying to fall asleep. Mother’s womb is very little. To simulate those conditions you may consider wrapping. Wrapping the baby stops unconscious movements and lets the baby to feel more relaxed.

If you’d like to know how to rock your baby and how to stop at good point, or when to use the white noise and for how long - check out my sleep training guide. You will also find the guide of wrapping and few more tips for the first few weeks of motherhood. Then, you can gradually move to the main sleep training.

Susan Urban