Newborns & Night Feedings

Yes! It is completely normal for your newborn to need to feed every 2-3 hours at night. But why?

Newborns have tiny little tummies that need to be filled often. To give you some perspective, when a baby is born, his/her stomach is about the size of a cherry🍒. Your stomach as a grown adult is about the size of a cantaloupe🍈. By the time they are 6mo-1year their stomach will have grown to about the size of a grapefruit🍊, explaining why most babies will be capable of sleeping through the night without feeding by this age. Interesting, right?

In addition to these tiny tummies that cause them to get hungry often🍼, newborns have not yet developed a circadian rhythm, causing day/night confusion. What exactly does this mean? Imagine you were in a day with 24 hours of light ☀️ - and no watch⌚. You would have no idea when it would be time to go to sleep, and if you did happen to fall asleep you would have no idea how long you slept. It would be confusing, wouldn't it?

The newborn period is often referred to as "the 4th trimester". In the 4th trimester, it is very important to answer to the needs of our babies. At Lovebug, we believe that it is impossible to spoil a newborn. That's right, impossible! At this age their needs are the same as their wants. Feed them when they show signs of hunger, hold them when they want to be held, love them, and enjoy them while they're so small 🥰.