Babies are Mammals – I can’t emphasise this point enough, and when you truly accept this, the newborn parenting phase becomes sooo much easier.

Our new born babies are just tiny little bundles of instincts and reflexes. They have been born into a world full of unfamiliar smells, tastes and sounds, and they have to breathe and feed without any help from the placenta!!

Is it any wonder that they are happiest skin to skin with the people whose voices they know and the steady thump, thump, thump of a heart beat.

The most Australian of all mammals, kangaroos and koalas keep their babies in their pouch where they feed and sleep all day long, and truly our babies would happily do that too if we had the equipment!

So, the next best thing is keep your baby snuggled up with one of you most of the time in those early weeks, even when they aren’t feeding. In a baby carrier, or in your arms, that is where they will be most content for those early weeks.

Don’t beat yourself up about “not getting anything done”, because truly you are doing the most important job of all, you are nourishing and emotionally regulating the next generation, and trust me, nothing is more important!

I promise they will sleep by themselves eventually, but in those early days, go with your baby’s mammalian rhythms and life will be easier for all of you!