The First Night Home: A Gentle Guide to Your Newborn's Sleep

The drive home with a brand new human in the back seat is one of the strangest, most beautiful moments of early parenthood. You pull into the driveway and suddenly realise nobody is coming in with you. It is just you, a tiny person, and a list of very big questions.

Before bed, lower the lights in the whole house by around seven in the evening. Newborns haven't developed a circadian rhythm yet, but the absence of blue light begins to teach them that darkness means rest. Keep the nursery between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius and dress your baby in one more layer than you would wear yourself.

For the first diaper change at 2am, keep things boring on purpose. Use a dim warm-toned lamp, speak softly, avoid eye contact if you can help it. A calm, dry change in a Nuriva diaper is often enough to send them drifting back within minutes.

Feed on demand but remember that a sleepy baby will sometimes suck half-heartedly and then wake hungry an hour later. A full feed followed by a careful burp is usually worth the extra ten minutes.

Finally: lower your standards for the evening. The dishes can wait. The thank-you notes can wait. Your only job tonight is to keep one small person warm, fed, dry, and loved. Everything else is bonus.