Top tips/secrets needed for new parents

Alex_of_Swansea

This is a great thread, but after that last post, I am never having kids!!! :eek:

crispeater

lol and even years on when you cough or sneeze...CROSS YOUR LEGS! :d

oh dont forget to accept anyones help if they want to take the baby out or toddler to the park, you will so appreciate some time to yourself.
my sister used to say to me if you get worked up with them then just leave the room until you calm down, if they are crying then they are breathing.. but i did always peep in

happysinglemum

I have to agree most with the posts about not putting the baby to sleep in a silent room. DS always had the radio on in his room and slept pretty well most of the time. We were renovating our house at the time, and ex-hubby could even do drilling and sanding in the next room and not wake DS!!! Made life loads easier.

I also discovered that the sound of the hoover would send DS off to sleep, so I got a baby sling and when he was colicky / teething / just crying alot, I'd just pop him in, strap the sling on and do some hoovering - worked every time (and I got some housework done too) lol.

Also I have to echo the 'enjoy it while you can' posts. DS is nearly 9 now, and it seems to have gone so fast. I did keep a journal for the first year - Mothercare do one with bits to fill in when you have a spare nanosecond! It's great even now to look back at his first words and photos, and he loves going through it with me telling him stories about when he was a baby.

If breastfeeding, if you get an evening out without the baby, be prepared for breast milk to flow at around feeding time! This happened to me a couple of times, and took me totally by surprise. When we checked with MIL when we got home, that was exactly the time she had fed DS - both times!

Good luck, and have fun with your new families all those expecting.

xx

Becles

My baby had her nights and days mixed up, so the first week or so was an absolute nightmare as she had been up all night, then I had to be up all day looking after my other children, so I was shattered!

A routine and different places for day time and night time sleeps and feeds has worked brilliantly.

During the day she sleeps downstairs. I leave the TV or radio on for background noise, and she hears the dogs barking, other children playing, me hoovering etc. Day time nappy changes are fun and I talk to her and do things like blow raspberrys on her tummy. I sit on the sofa to feed her, and we play or look at books before or after a feed, depending on how awake she is.

Night times are different. She has a bath around 10pm, and I take her into our bed to feed her. The lighting is kept low and I read a book rather than speak to her, then quietly put her into her cot. When she wakes during the night, I keep the lights low with a dimmer switch and there is no speaking, no eye contact and no playing. I just get her up, change her, take her into our bed for a feed and pop her back in the cot.

She seems to understand the difference between night and day now and she is excellent. Nights are so much easier, as she just wakes for her change and feed, then goes straight back to sleep again.

vaio

For mothers……

All mothers have doubts about their mothering abilities, luckily all babies are incapable of realising their mothers have doubts so cheerfully get on with the important things in life…eating, filling nappies, growing, discovering the world and getting their parents to jump on command.

For fathers……

No baby ever came to any harm by being left in a dirty nappy till the mother returns.

Curious_George_2

vaio wrote: »

For fathers……

No baby ever came to any harm by being left in a dirty nappy till the mother returns.

I bet some fathers have come to harm from doing this though....

Snaggles

No-one tells you that the 'let-down' reflex can hurt - not when you're actually feeding but, for example, when your baby cries in the middle of Asda. I find myself grabbing my boobs in pain sometimes. Apparently the same hormone that controls the let down reflex also controls contractions - no wonder it hurts sometimes. It only lasts a few seconds though.

But then they start pouring with milk instead!

(ps Becles, your baby is soooo adorable :A )

Becles

awww thanks! Your baby is so cute too :cool:

Do you find you get let down reflex when someone else's baby cries? That happened to me at a wedding at the weekend

Charlotte has been suffering from awful wind over the last couple of days. The wedding was on Saturday, with a buffet for both the afternoon reception and the evening reception. The food was minging! It didn't look or taste very nice, and I only ate it to keep my energy levels up for breastfeeding. Breakfast the next morning was also rank.

Since then I've had a bit of an upset tummy and lots of wind, as have my hubby and the boys. I wondered if it's possible to have passed something onto Charlotte through the breast milk?

Poor little thing keeps going a really red/purply colour and crying and screwing about. Then she'll do a massive pump and say "aaah", so it must be a huge relief to get rid of it!

Bought some gripe water this morning, but she wasn't impressed by the taste of it and spat it all over the place :rolleyes:

Snaggles

Thanks

Yes, my let-down is a bit trigger happy and will go off for pretty much anyone's baby lol!

Some babies do react to certain foods and get a bit windy I think, so it could be to do with something you have eaten. DD is very ladylike in a lot of ways, but her 'bottom burps' are not ladylike at ALL......she's a source of endless amusement to DS (who is 6)!

djtonyb

BUY A DIGITAL EAR THERMOMITER

They save a lot of time ahs struggling with a baby/child with a temp

Its virtually impossible to insert a rectal thermometer into a screaming baby or to hold on a fever scan one on the forehead for 3 mins!