The first two nights in the Royal Women’s Hospital was a nightmare for me as I wasn’t able to put Harvey in his bassinet to sleep. Each time I put him down, he would cry out.  The first week at home was relatively easy as Harvey spent the majority of his time sleeping.  I was able to continue doing most normal household tasks and able to have some time to myself during the day.  The night-time feed wasn’t too bad either.

Trouble began on week two where during the day, Harvey would not go to sleep unless somebody held him.  He was however, able to settle down by around week 4.  From there, the night-time sleeping continuously improved, whereas it was hit and miss with the daytime sleeping.

Once Harvey had well established his feeding and was able to sit/lie down in the pram for longer than half of a lap around the block (without screaming his head off), we were able to better fit Harvey into our routine (rather than us trying to fit around his).

It was continuously challenging getting Harvey to sleep during the day.  The most effective way was to go for a long walk with him in the pram.  The positive side effect of this is keeping active, keep fit and help loose some of post-baby weight.  Unfortunately, going for a long walk is weather dependent (unless you go to the shopping mall) and I am also unable to do other tasks around the house.

​​As for night time, there was a whole week that Harvey would either get up around 2am and grunting through the night or waking up every 30min-1 hour right through till the morning.  The main reason for this was due to the fact Harvey’s bowel was developing and starting to gain better control.   When he had a full tummy/bowel, it made Harvey uncomfortable and he seemed to be in pain, trying to push.  On the occasion where he was able to do a big poo – he was immediately a very different and more pleasant child.