What are Hilary Erickson's tips for managing a newborn's sleep schedule?

I focus on a few big ideas when I talk about newborn sleep (especially those first 3 months):

• You’re in charge of “when,” not baby. Newborns can usually only stay comfortably awake about 60–90 minutes. If you wait longer, they get overtired and wired. So I like parents to initiate naps and bedtime based mostly on the clock, not just cues.

• Think “calm but awake.” Starting around 4 weeks, I love Dr. Sarah Mitchell’s idea of putting baby down calm but awake in the place they’ll sleep (bassinet/crib), so they slowly learn to fall asleep there instead of only in your arms.

• Feed first, then sleep. Once feeding is established (usually after those first few weeks of feeding on demand), separating full feeds from falling asleep helps avoid constant “snacking” day and night and makes it easier to tell if fussiness is from hunger or something else.

• Aim for a gentle “daily flow,” not a rigid schedule. I like a predictable pattern (eat, a bit of awake time, then sleep), but with flexibility because newborns are still “goo,” as I say in the podcast, and every day looks a little different.

If you’d like, I can help you sketch a simple sample day for your baby’s current age. What age in weeks is your newborn right now?