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For Jenn - some advice - come on Mama's join in
Someone's question to Jenn about how much maternity time she was getting got me thinking... Jenn only has a couple of months to prepare for all of this while most of us got nine or ten months to figure it all out.
SO... let's give her some advice and help her out!!
Here's mine: Practical - install a dimmer switch in babies room. This way when you have to get up in the middle of the night to feed ( assuming LO sleeps in her own room at some point) you don't have to turn on a full on light. Just a bit of light to see enough to change and feed her. Helps baby not to be too stimulated.
Not practical but necessary - LOVE her. LOVE her smell, smile, giggles and goos. She will make you question everything you ever thought was true and validate the same things. She will make you laugh, cry and pull your hair out but she will always tug at your heart strings. Enjoy every last minute of this journey...
Re: For Jenn - some advice - come on Mama's join in
When DS was in our room I used a nightlight for nighttime feedings and changes. Now that he is in his own room we use a Homedics sound spa for white noise with a projection on the ceiling- it puts out just enough light without completely waking DS. Probably the best $20 we've spent in a long time!
Sign up for the Amazon Mom club for great discounts. If you do the subscribe and save program for diapers and wipes you'll save a ton of money- they're way cheaper than we've found anywhere else, even Walmart. Plus free two day shipping! I buy so much baby related stuff on Amazon, the UPS guy probably hates me, LOL!
Don't try to do everything by the book- do what works! For a few weeks we let LO sleep in our bed- I knew it wasn't the best situation, but I was desperate to sleep! Now I miss it- there was something so amazing about waking up with his warm little body pressed against my chest, all snuggled up and softly snoring...
But it was also nice to just get through those couple of weeks with some real sleep.
Speaking of sleep.... time for bed! But I'll think of more tomorrow!
I have this sound/projector machine too and it's amazing!! I love that it has a timer with different settings.
Wow, the dimmer light is SUCH a good idea. We usually turn on the bathroom light that is right next to Ryan's room, which pours a little light into the room without blinding him.
I would just say don't worry about being a perfect parent. No one is. It's ok to make mistakes. It's ok to change your course if something isn't working. Becoming a parent is such a learning curve. But you and DH will know your little peanut better than anyone else, and you'll know what's best even when 57 other people have differing advice or an opinion.
When DD was in our room, I would turn on the light in the closet so that it wasn't too bright.
We have a double bed in her bedroom which was a life saver, I would lay down and nurse her in the MOTN and then put her back in her crib (or if I fell asleep we'd sleep there for a bit)...strange question but are you going to try to Lactate? I know I know, weird.
Finding some assemblace of a schedule I think is important, it is amazing how much babies need to sleep (20 hours in the beginning) L still sleeps (14-15 hours total) right now
It is ok to feel frustrated when the baby is crying, really it is. You aren't a bad mom if you get stressed or upset or cry when she is crying.
Let your DH help. Let him help and realize he probably won't do it EXACTLY the way you would. But let him be a dad and be his own dad, then he will take more ownership of it.
I'm sure I have more, but liek PP said spend time looking at her, snuggling her, loving her and take lots of pictures
Awe, thank you ladies, I really appreciate it. I'm kinda freaking out about being a mom in 6 weeks!
Christina, we actually did look into induced lactation, but after doing research found that nutritionally there is no real added value for the baby (not enough to warrant the hormones it would take etc), that really it's for bonding, which can be created through bottle feeding. But we totally did look into it!
Amazon is AMAZING. I've been searching there already, and they seem to have the best prices!
Ok, I thought of some more advice!
* I love love love our carseat with the Snap N Go. I'm glad I didn't get a big travel system, it's so easy to use the Snap N Go and it barely takes up any room.
* Get the Sleep and Plays with snaps, not zippers. I thought zippers would be easier for diaper changes, but most zip from the top down, exposing baby- it's so much easier to just unsnap the bottom.
* If I had to do it over again, I think I would have started DS out in the crib from the very first night. We're now trying to transition him to the crib and it's not a fun process.
* Invest in a good Point and Shoot camera with a good HD video feature. It's so nice having one compact device close at hand!
* Get a Glider. I was completely against them (they're all so ugly!), but after killing my back bouncing DS on the ball, I finally broke down and got one. Totally worth it, I use it every night and it's super comfortable (even if I still find it ugly! LOL).
*Book a photographer for newborn pics now. You only have so many weeks until it's hard to get the really good shots. I waited and procrastinated and ended up having to go to JCP's at the last minute- they turned out ok, but I wish I would have spent more money and had a real photographer do them. Also, if you can afford it, do 3/6/9 month pictures as well- it's crazy how fast they grow!
A LOT of the ladies on 12-24 were just saying how they wished they had just gotten snap n go's instead of the travel systems, we never had one, we just used a wrap
agreed snaps are easier for all the diaper changes in the beginning, now we like zippers
We started her in her PNP from day one and then in the crib after 1 week, don't get me wrong there were a few times she came to bed with us but mostly she's been in her crib
Haha we had one and got rid of it, Lucy HATED it and it took up a lot of room, I wish it would have worked.
I LOVED the gowns for when he was little. The middle of the night was so much easier without having to find zippers or buttons. Once we passed that waking all of the time stage... the buttons where easier!! For onesies I HAVE to recommend the Carter's onsies. I think they fit the best and hold up the best.
We had DS in the crib from day one. I was so glad we did. He never had a moment of trouble sleeping. The one down side was that there were times I just missed him SO much and wanted to be with him. It took us a while to convince him to nap with us occasionally. Finally now he LOVES our bed but also really really LOVES his crib. I love that he has a place all his own...
you can't spoil a newborn. so many people gave me crap about picking d up when he cried, etc. uhhhh, it's a newborn, that's what you're supposed to do. let her sleep on you. she'll want to be held alllllll day. she just came out of a warm, fuzzy, comfy place that held her 24/7 and is now in a big scary world so comfort all you want!!
babies don't start to form habits until 3ish months or so, so there's nothing wrong with catering to their needs.
i don't really see a big deal about having the baby sleep in your room with you. they wake up so much, it really is just so much easier to have them right there, rather than you having to get up and walk to their room. dominic slept in a bassinet in our room until he was 4 months and there was no issue with him moving to his crib. at that point i don't really feel like they'd know the difference, but maybe that was just my kid.
like other's have said, sound machine. this saved my life more times than i can count when dominic was colicky. i'd swaddle him up super tight, blast the sound machine and hold him sideways (also check out the happiest baby on the block dvd/book. i just rented the dvd from the library. very helpful for fussy newborns when you can't figure out what they need). we still use the sound machine for naps and bedtime because dominic just sleeps a lot better with it on, he's a light sleeper and i like that i can still vacuum, etc, right outside his door.
i'll also 2nd or 3rd the snap n go instead of the travel system stroller. hated that thing.
invest in a wrap, it will save your life when you can't put her down but need to do things around the house, etc.
i also loved the gowns for when they're little. so easy to change a diaper without a thousand snaps on the sleepers
gripe water. baby's bliss was the only kind that worked for us. i've seen some bru's carry it, but i got ours at sprouts.
that was all mostly for just teeny baby stage. i have no idea if you wanted that much info, but that's all stuff that worked for me. so excited for you!
are you planning on doing cloth? i can't remember. if not, make sure you don't stock up on too many of one brand of diapers. never know which ones will work for you. i will say that target brand diapers were my favorite disposable ever. so cute and very affordable, and they often have coupons for them, too.
ETA- woooo 5,555 posts!
my issue with having her in our room was that she woke us up with every little movement, and I would think she needed to eat when she was really just grunting/moving around/getting situated.
Which was why it was easier for all of us to have her in her own room.
yes, totally understand that! we had the sound machine on while sleeping so that muffled out some of that