The First Days With a Newborn: What to Expect
Image Credit: Pexels / juliane Monari
The first days with a newborn can feel wonderfully intimate, completely exhausting and slightly surreal, sometimes all within the same hour. Most of your time will revolve around feeding, sleeping, changing nappies, cuddling your baby and getting to know their cues.
There is no requirement to settle into a perfect routine straight away. Newborn babies have individual patterns, and you are learning about your baby while also recovering from birth and adjusting to a major change in everyday life.
Knowing what is likely to happen can make those first few days feel a little less mysterious. Here is what you can expect, what healthcare checks are usually offered and which signs deserve professional advice.
What the first 24 hours with your newborn may look like
After your baby is born, there is usually a mixture of cuddles, feeding, checks and a great deal of looking at the tiny person you have just met.
If circumstances allow, you may have skin-to-skin contact soon after birth. The NHS notes that skin-to-skin contact can help with bonding and can support getting breastfeeding started.
Some babies feed soon after birth, while others take a little longer. Midwives can support you whether you breastfeed, use formula or combine breast and bottle feeding.
Your baby will also be offered routine newborn care and checks. Within the first 24 hours, a health professional will offer your baby a vitamin K injection to help prevent a rare but serious bleeding disorder.
A newborn physical examination is offered within the first 72 hours. This includes an overall examination and specific checks of your baby’s eyes, heart and hips, as well as the testicles if your baby has them.
You do not need to memorise everything happening around you. Ask questions whenever you are unsure, even if you think the question seems small.
Feeding can take up a surprising amount of time
One of the biggest adjustments in the newborn first days is how much of the day can revolve around feeding.
If you are breastfeeding, the NHS advises feeding your baby responsively, which means offering the breast when your baby shows feeding cues rather than trying to follow a strict timetable. In the first week, babies may want to feed very frequently.
Early hunger cues can include becoming restless, sucking fingers or fists, making murmuring sounds, and turning the head with the mouth open.
If you are bottle feeding, NHS guidance also recommends responsive feeding. Watch for your baby’s hunger cues, hold them close during feeds and allow them to pause. Babies should not be forced to finish a bottle.
Feeding does not always feel straightforward immediately. Breastfeeding can take practice, and bottle feeding comes with its own questions about preparation, positioning and how much your baby needs.
Ask your midwife or health visitor for help if feeding is painful, your baby seems unable to feed effectively, you are concerned about how much milk they are getting, or you simply want somebody to check that things are going well.
Your newborn will sleep a lot, but not necessarily when you expect
Newborn sleep is very different from adult sleep.
New babies sleep during both the day and night and usually wake repeatedly for feeds and care. They are not yet tuned into the difference between daytime and night-time, so expecting a conventional night’s sleep in the first days is rarely realistic.
Your baby’s sleep pattern may also be completely different from another baby’s. Some sleep for longer stretches while others wake more frequently.
The priority during these early days is safer sleep rather than trying to establish a perfect sleep schedule.
NHS guidance advises placing babies on their backs to sleep. For the first six months, the safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own cot or Moses basket in the same room as you. Their mattress should be firm, flat and waterproof, and the sleep space should be kept clear.
Never sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair.
Tiredness can become intense quickly, particularly after labour and birth. If somebody you trust can help with meals, household jobs or other practical tasks while you rest, accepting that support can be genuinely useful.
Expect plenty of nappies
Nappies quickly become one of the easiest ways to notice what is happening with your newborn.
Your baby’s first poo is called meconium. It is dark, sticky and usually greenish-black. Over the following days, the colour and consistency change as your baby begins feeding.
The number and appearance of wet and dirty nappies also change during the early days. Your midwife can explain what to expect based on your baby’s age and how they are being fed.
Nappy changes can feel awkward the first few times. They soon become familiar.
Have your supplies within reach before you begin and, if you use a raised changing surface, keep a hand on your baby and never leave them unattended.
If you are worried that your baby is producing fewer wet nappies than expected or that they may not be getting enough milk, speak to your midwife or health visitor.
Your baby’s umbilical cord needs simple care
The small stump of umbilical cord remaining after birth gradually dries and falls away.
According to NHS guidance, the cord usually takes around a week to dry and drop off. Until then, keep it clean and dry.
You do not need to make cord care complicated.
If you notice bleeding or discharge from the cord, tell your midwife, health visitor or GP.
Your baby’s belly button may look unfamiliar while the stump is still attached, but you will usually be given guidance on caring for it before leaving maternity care.
Your newborn may look different from what you imagined
Real newborns do not necessarily look like the smooth-skinned babies in adverts.
Their head shape can reflect the birth, their skin may have marks or colour changes, and their hands and feet can look surprisingly tiny and delicate.
Some newborn girls have a little vaginal bleeding or white discharge caused by hormones passed from the mother before birth. A newborn’s genitals may also initially appear swollen. NHS guidance explains that these changes usually settle.
If something about your baby’s appearance worries you, mention it to your midwife. You are not expected to know which newborn features are typical simply by looking.
You may notice jaundice
Jaundice causes a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes. It is common in newborn babies and often appears a few days after birth.
It can be less obvious on brown or black skin, so checking the whites of the eyes and inside the mouth can also be useful.
Most newborn jaundice improves without treatment, but some babies need assessment and treatment.
If your baby develops jaundice during the first 24 hours after birth, NHS guidance says they should be checked by a healthcare professional straight away.
If jaundice develops later, tell your midwife, health visitor or GP so they can advise whether your baby needs assessment.
Crying is communication, not a sign you are doing something wrong
Your baby cannot tell you that they are hungry, uncomfortable, tired or simply want to be held. Crying is one of the ways they communicate those needs.
At first, you may run through the same mental checklist repeatedly.
Do they need feeding? Is their nappy wet? Are they tired? Do they need winding? Are they too warm or cold? Do they want to be held?
Sometimes the answer becomes obvious. Sometimes it does not.
Not immediately knowing why your newborn is crying does not mean you are failing to understand them. You are still getting acquainted.
If the crying feels overwhelming, place your baby somewhere safe and take a short moment to steady yourself. Ask somebody you trust to take over if possible.
Never shake a baby.
If your baby’s cry sounds unusual, they cannot be consoled, or their behaviour is worrying you, seek medical advice.
Bonding may be instant, gradual or somewhere in between
There is a powerful cultural image of a parent meeting their baby and immediately experiencing an overwhelming rush of love.
Some people do feel that.
For others, bonding develops more gradually through feeding, holding, skin-to-skin contact, soothing, talking and simply spending time together.
Both experiences can exist.
You have just met your baby, even though you may have spent months preparing for them. You are learning their sounds, expressions and preferences while adapting physically and emotionally yourself.
Try not to compare your feelings with somebody else’s version of early parenthood.
If you are persistently struggling with your mood, anxiety, frightening thoughts or feeling unable to cope, tell your midwife, health visitor or GP. Support is available for parents as well as babies.
Your baby will have newborn screening and checks
Several routine checks and screening tests are offered during your baby’s early days and weeks.
The newborn physical examination is offered within 72 hours of birth and again at around 6 to 8 weeks.
The newborn blood spot test, sometimes called the heel prick test, is usually offered around day 5, although timing can vary slightly.
Your baby will also be offered newborn hearing screening. If it is not completed before you leave hospital, it can be arranged afterwards.
These tests are designed to identify certain conditions early so that babies who need further assessment or support can receive it.
Your maternity team will explain what is being offered and give you opportunities to ask questions.
Going home can feel surprisingly strange
Leaving hospital or the birth setting can be exciting, but the moment you arrive home with your newborn can also feel intimidating.
Suddenly there is no call button beside the bed and no midwife appearing every few hours.
Try to keep the first days simple.
You need somewhere safe for your baby to sleep, feeding supplies appropriate to how you are feeding, nappies, basic clothing and a way to keep yourself fed and reasonably rested.
The perfectly organised nursery can wait.
Visitors can wait too if you are not ready. You are allowed to decide what feels manageable for your household.
If people want to help, practical support can be particularly valuable. A meal left at the door, groceries, washing up or looking after an older child may be far more useful than a long social visit.
You probably will not have a newborn routine yet
Many parents wonder when feeding, sleeping and everyday life will become predictable.
During the first days, think less about creating a strict schedule and more about learning your baby’s signals.
Your day may simply move through repeating cycles of feeding, winding, changing, cuddling and sleeping.
That is enough.
You do not need to stimulate your newborn every minute they are awake. Talking softly, holding them, letting them look at your face and spending time skin-to-skin can all be part of getting to know each other.
There will be time for routines later.
Remember that you are recovering too
The focus naturally shifts towards the baby after birth, but you have needs as well.
Birth is physically demanding, and the early days can involve soreness, bleeding, hormonal changes, broken sleep and a lot of emotion.
The NHS notes that feeling tearful, anxious or low during the first week after birth can happen. These feelings are often called the baby blues.
If low mood or anxiety begins later, lasts for more than two weeks, feels severe, or you are worried about how you are coping, speak to your midwife, health visitor or GP.
You deserve care during this period too.
Try to eat, drink, rest and accept practical help where you can. The laundry does not need to be perfectly folded. Messages do not need immediate replies. Your job is not to make the newborn stage look effortless.
When to get professional advice
Newborn babies can become unwell quickly, and it is always reasonable to ask for help if something does not feel right.
The NHS advises parents to trust their instincts if they think their baby may be seriously ill.
Seek medical advice urgently if your baby is difficult to wake, is not feeding normally and you are worried, has nappies that are much drier than usual, has difficulty breathing, has green vomit, cries constantly and cannot be consoled, or has a cry that does not sound like their normal cry.
Changes in skin colour, including skin that looks blue, pale, blotchy or grey, can also require urgent assessment.
Jaundice appearing during the first 24 hours should be assessed by a healthcare professional straight away.
If your baby stops breathing, will not wake up or has another life-threatening emergency, call 999.
For other concerns, contact your midwife, health visitor, GP or NHS 111 as appropriate.
You are not wasting anybody’s time by asking about a newborn symptom that worries you.