It's recommended that your baby sleeps in a crib in your bedroom for the first six months. With your baby in your bedroom, you'll be close by when he cries at night and able to attend to him easily. This is especially useful if you're breast-feeding.
Remember that babies are not necessarily quiet sleepers: they may wiggle, grunt, and move around and these noises may disturb you or your partner. If your partner has to go to work the following day this extra disturbance may affect him. It will affect you, too, but you may have a chance to "catch up" on some sleep, or at least rest, when your baby naps. You should do what is best for all three of you, even if that means your partner spends some nights in the spare room. Some new parents find that they are so exhausted by life with a newborn that they sleep, regardless of whether their baby is snuffling or not.
If the baby is in his own room you may worry that you may not hear him cry, but you will if you use a baby monitor. When he does cry, yet again at 3 am, be aware that a short trip along the landing can seem like a mile.
Your breasts will change in preparation for breast-feeding, whether you intend to breast-feed your baby or not. Since your breasts will feel full and heavy by this stage, it's important to wear a bra that properly supports you. Go for a fitting if necessary.
You may want to put your baby into your bed with you, and yet you may be concerned that you might roll over on him. For this reason, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend co-sleeping. It can be especially dangerous if either of you smoke or use alcohol or drugs that make it hard to wake up, or if you sleep with the baby on a waterbed, couch, or in a chair. The safest place for your baby is in a bassinet near your bed.
In the third trimester, your breasts will begin to prepare themselves for feeding your baby, and you may experience some discomfort and changes that you had not anticipated. Your breasts will become fuller, and may actually feel very heavy; your areolas (the area around your nipples) will become darker, and you may feel lumps and bumps in your breasts, as the first milk, colostrum, begins to be produced. This may leak out a little (see On leakages).
The small glands on the surface of your areolas (known as Montgomery's tubercles) will also become raised bumps. You may have darkened veins along your breasts, due to their increased blood supply. Your breasts may also feel more tender and sensitive than usual, especially if touched.
Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.
Subscribe