PART FOUR: POSTNATAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM

Summary:

• After birth, the baby’s circadian rhythm will entrain to the mother’s circadian rhythm across the first months of life¹

• Milk from mothers with preterm babies will actually have higher melatonin than mothers with full term babies²

• Cortisol levels are opposite of melatonin (ie, cortisol in the day and melatonin at night)

• Mothers who pump should make sure to pump throughout the day and especially try to pump during the ~3am daily melatonin spike

  • Babies who are getting pumped milk should be given milk at a similar time of day as it was pumped to match the hormonal cues with the actual time of day³

• Since babies don’t make melatonin, babies may rely more on social cues and daytime sunshine for their circadian timing than adults⁴

• I promo my Newborn Jaundice Course

• Q&A and stories with Ashley Spellman from the Life Spark Project, who hosted this version of the workshop with me in June, 2023

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1. Thomas, K. A., Burr, R. L., Spieker, S., Lee,…