The Great 'What you wish you'd known when you had a baby' Hunt 2012

Tawny75

Cushions, lots of cushions, stuck under your elbow, they help tremendously with feeding for support whether breast or bottle.

Cazza1234

mildred1978 wrote: »

Like pram shoes?

Probably should have been more specific on that - my daughter is now walking, but too small for normal shoes. These were ideal.

Cazza1234

I found putting a hot water bottle in the cot to warm it up before putting the baby in to sleep helped a lot (obviously take the bottle out first)

Also, with breastfeeding - try the local Sure Start Centres - they may have a breastfeeding support group. They provide support to new mums and can help with positioning/latch. Our local Sure Start Centre has just started training peer supporters.
Note: contrary to belief breastfeeding does not necessarily come naturally. It is hard work and extremely tiring.

Lexis200

Clothes are in general so much of a faff to get on and off a newborn/newish baby, and often seem very uncomfortable for them (jeans on a month old???). Mine were in sleepsuits almost permanently for about four months once I realised they seemed much more happy in them than clothes:)

I only really got them dressed properly when seeing the in-laws...

That said, I did love some of their new baby clothes - I still have the little dungarees my eldest was bought when he was a month or so old, and I loved him in them (they were only a thick t-shirt material though so maybe that was part of it).

When changing nappies, if you're using wet wipes rest them on your knee when you start changing (we always did this on the floor, not sure how you'd do it if you stand up to change them). It warms the wipes up just a bit which always made me feel better about using them on a warm baby bum!

Also, I've just remembered about night feeds. Mine couldn't breastfeed due to drugs I'm on, so during the night we'd have to get up to warm bottles. We ended up getting a warmer which sits by the bed which really helped, especially in the winter when it was pigging cold getting to the kitchen.

The poster who mentioned about babygro bags was imo spot on - these were a godsend for our youngest who kicked blankets off as you were putting them on.

picnic

when someone say.. 'if you need anything just ask..' ASK!! if they didnt mean it they shouldnt say it.. but most of the time they mean it.. esp if its a family member.. mind the baby while you have a nap.. sleep is the one thing you will need the most of.
but help with washing, shopping, cleaning etc..

good luck to all the new mums to be...

sassyblue

MSE_Debs wrote: »

one follower posted him tips such as "pin a 'baby sleeping' sign on the front door to stop disturbance".

I did the sign on the door and absolutely nobody took any notice! :mad: The florist came round the back of the house and hammered on the patio doors one day when l was in alot of pain with stitches and in tears - not a good look - the sign was there for a reason! :mad:

Get the next size up in nappies to store away, otherwise when you need them there's an urgency to getting to the shops, which with a baby can be difficult.

It'll probably around 3 months until you get into a proper routine, during that time just keep aiming to get dressed, get some household chores done - and one day you'll start achieving it. (Yes even getting dressed some days is hard).

Don't bother joining mumsnet, it's evil. This forum is so much nicer.

The best advice l can give you is that you're entering a whole new world, and whilst it's wonderful it's also hard work and very stressful. You WON'T enjoy every second of it and nor should you, so don't beat yourself up when you wonder what the hell you've signed yourself up for. :A

Good Luck! xxx

Lexis200

Oh, and the First Christmas - like most people we wanted it to be 'perfect' and bought stocking fillers etc from age dot. My friend had her first a few years after me and had the blinding idea to use pressies her baby was given from other people in the stocking for the first few years.

It saved her a ton of money, baby/toddler/young child doesn't know any different, and as you're writing the thank you letters anyway no-one else knows when/how the presents are given.

sparklebunnys

* Buy a pram you can lift with one hand (we had to swap our massively expensive Mamas & Papas one for a lightweight cheapo Petite Star Zia+ after a few weeks as I couldn't lift it in to the car!)
* Don't buy lots of newborn clothes, you get given tonnes when the baby arrives.
* Cold water sterilisers are much more econominal than the microwave variety. Mothercare do a big blue bucket that fits 6 bottles, I think it's made by Milton.
* As others have said, baby sleeping bags are brilliant.
* When our boy was being particularly screamy and refusing to sleep, a radio tuned to white noise helped get him off.
* Look for Facebook groups selling 2nd hand baby gear in your area. They grow out of toys and clothes so quickly everyone has lots to get rid of!
* For cheap baby safing, by some pipe lagging and gaffa tape it to table corners, edges etc.

JimmyTheWig

In our experience, Health Visitors know more about breastfeeding than Midwives do. If you want advice, probably best to speak to a Health Visitor, or even better a breastfeeding councillor, than a Midwife.
I'm not having a go at Midwives here - I think they do a great job. It's just that most of their job is dealing with not-yet-born babies and their mothers, which doesn't involve feeding.

I also second the post earlier about going to the local Sure Start / Childrens' Centre. They have all sorts of groups going on (some have groups aimed at dads @MSE Martin) which are a rget way to have social interaction with other parents.

idristhedragon

Avoid parenting forums like the plague. I wasted YEARS of my babies young lives beating myself up over what I was reading on forums.
Get to toddler groups and make real friends.
Trust your instincts
Dont have too many visitors when baby first born, or if you do as its usually inevitable get them to do womething useful like bring a meal, and make their own cuppas
With my 4th I took to my bed for two weeks as she was quite poorly and needed round the clock feeding. The Health Visitor etc were more than happy to visit me in my bed. I think the current twee term for bedding in is "babymoon". I wish Id done it with the other three as it REALLY helped bonding, feeding, everything