Mingo's Nest Doula

Why Low Light and Low Stimulation Matter in the Newborn Days

One of the biggest surprises for new parents is that babies don’t simply fall asleep because they’re tired. In fact, newborns are still adjusting to life outside the womb, where it was dark, warm, and filled with the constant rhythmic sounds of a heartbeat, of breathing, and digestion.

During these first few weeks ‘on the outside’, creating an environment that supports rest can make a meaningful difference in the level of rest for baby and the whole family.

The Fourth Trimester Is About Gentle Transition

It’s easy to assume that keeping a baby awake longer will help them sleep better later. In reality, newborns often become overstimulated very quickly.

Signs that your baby may be getting overwhelmed include:

• Looking away or avoiding eye contact
• Frantic seeming sucking when not hungry
• Fussiness that escalates quickly
• Difficulty settling, even when fed and changed

When we notice these early cues and respond by reducing stimulation, we’re helping babies regulate before they become overtired.

The Power of Low Light

Our bodies rely on light to help regulate our internal clocks, and babies are beginning to develop these rhythms from day one. During the day, it is super helpful to allow sunlight help shape the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. Babies are not born with a biologically set understanding of night and day/circadian rhythms.

When you expose the baby (and ultimately yourself) to sunlight in the morning you are teaching their system to begin to differentiate day from night, activity and rest. Many of our babies begin their life with mild jaundice as well. The sunlight will help breakdown the bilirubin excess in their skin. Another benefit for both parties is the stimulation of serotonin which will help with postpartum emotional shifts and can keep your baby calm and happy.

During nighttime is when the low light and lack of light will send a strong message, as the evening nears and night begins keeping lights dim sends the message that this is time for rest. We are reducing visual stimulation as we move towards also reducing audio stimulation.

In the evening try using:

• Table lamps, or lower dimable lights instead of overhead lights.
• Red or amber lighting if available. Many of you will have a Hatch or other light/sound machine combo. Using the Red and Amber tones provide less signals to the brain of wakefulness.

Once bedtime starts our goal is to try and do anything baby related in the least light possible while keeping enough light to safely see the baby during feeds and changing.

Quiet Doesn’t Mean Silent

Newborns don’t need complete silence. In fact, they are used to constant background noise from the womb. We do not need a silent home, and the baby will benefit from noise during daytime rest. Our goal of day time rest is not large stretches, we want 2 or 3 hours maximum of uninterrupted sleep during the day in order to prioritize feeding and developmental milestone building activities.

I often share this example with families when discussing the use of a sound machine or background music during the day time: When you are in a quiet room for a nap or just calmly spending time and someone sneezes, or a dog barks, or something falls onto the floor…we often jump or startle too just like a baby. The nervous system has a cortisol boost from the surprise and it can be difficult to calm back down even as an adult. Newborns have a strong startle reflex as a biological need to keep them safe. While we muffle this using a swaddle, the background noise of music or a sound machine setting of your choice can assist the jump scare. When you are in a restaurant and a server drops some plates or glasses, we don’t tend to jump, we note the slightly louder sound and continue living our lives. This is the beauty of the sound machine. We are not muting the sounds of your home, we are softening the reaction to them.

The goal isn’t perfection—it’s reducing unnecessary stimulation during times when your baby is preparing to sleep. For night time when things are especially silent, the silence it can wake a baby just as much as a loud noise would.

Creating Sleep-Friendly Habits Early

While newborns are too young for formal sleep training, they are learning about the world around them. Simple habits like dimming lights before bedtime, speaking softly during overnight care, and keeping nighttime interactions calm help create predictable patterns that support healthy sleep as your baby grows.

Think of it as laying the foundation rather than creating strict routines.

Caring for Parents, Too

A calm environment benefits more than your baby. As a postpartum doula, one of my goals is to help families create an environment that feels calm, supportive, and sustainable. Sometimes the smallest adjustments become the ones that make the biggest difference. Your own nervous system is regulating postpartum as well, there have been biological and fundamental changes in you too.