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expecting mum in feb 2011 chat room
hello im from my baby due in feb 2011 chat forum room and was wondering what advice you had for us girls as you also had your baby in feb such as good things to buy and bad things to buy or just general advice looking forward to all you have to tell us
[Modified by: abbielouise on 30 August 2010 18:15:40 ]
[Modified by: abbielouise on 30 August 2010 18:15:40 ]
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Congratulations! Wow, just think, this time next year your baby will be 6/7 months! Time will fly by!
One thing that i don't think i bought enough of was socks! I felt that sometimes my dd needed socks on under her sleepsuit because it could get really chilly at night. I also had a sleeping bag that i had bought before she was born. I didn't expect to use it for a wee while but my dd was nearly 9lbs and hated being swaddled! So at 1 week old she was straight in the sleeping bag!
One thing that we bought which i felt was a waste of money was a padded pramsuit! It was massive!! My dd wasn't a tiny baby but the newborn size swamped her! I got given a pramsuit from Gap which wasn't padded and it fitted her so much better! So i would advise you to get a pramsuit which isn't padded.
Other essentials would be:
Long sleeved vests
Tights (even if you have a boy, tights will keep baby toasty warm)
Some padded/fleecy sleepsuits
2.5tog Sleeping bag
Socks - these can double up as scratch mits or just to keep baby's hands warm at night
Some woolly cardigans
Non-padded pramsuit
A dummy - just incase! I sent my hubby out to Tesco's at 10pm to get one because dd wouldn't settle! I would get a couple of types. My dd wouldn't take the tiny ones, it had to be a huge cherry one!
Muslins by the bucketload! In the early days i found that when i was bf my dd, milk would spray everywhere and leak everywhere. A muslin under my boob really helped keeping my clothes dry! They are also fab if baby is sicky.
Ermmm i can't think of any more but if i do, i will let you know!
Take care and enjoy the next few months of getting some sleep! lol
Lx
My absolute top tip is... If baby wakes up in the night and won't settle back to sleep, don't fight it and struggle to try and get baby back to sleep, you will only end up stressed and frustrated. Pick baby up, have a nice cuddle and watch some TV and make it some positive time between you. Because you are calm baby will soon go to sleep and those middle of the night playtimes don't last long, make the most of every second while they are tiny, even if it is at 2am!
If you breastfeed baby will most likely fall asleep a lot during feeds. To make sure they get a full feed and some hindmilk so they are not hungry again in an hour rouse them by changing their nappy or something like that then feed again from the same side. You will go longer between feeds then and guarantee more sleep. It seems to tempting to let them sleep and go back to bed in the middle of the night but its counter productive because then you are up again soon after to finish the feed!
Don't buy scratch mits, they are useless and fall off, socks do the job so much better!!
Don't be afraid by horror stories, everyone is different. I bled very lightly for a short period of time, not everyone needs billions of maternity pads, I kept wearing mine for nothing more than spotting for a bit of padding on my stitches.
A good clear birth plan is a good idea. My midwife said mine was great and she really fought with me over the things I had made clear I wanted. She wouldn't let me lie down because I said I wanted to be active, she put off an epidural because I said I didn't want one and never even mentioned pethidine because I had totally forbidden it. My little man was persistant occiput posterior, a fancy way of saying he was back to back but didn't turn so was born sunny side up facing the ceiling and at some points I would have taken arsenic if I thought it would help so making sure they knew in advance what I wanted made my birth experience a positive one.
Muslins are out most used items, we have one in every room, one in the car, pushchair, cot and a couple in my baby bag, have lots! My LO uses them as a comforter to help him sleep too.
We bought some outfits in newborn that were never worn, he was so much more comfy in all in ones he lived in them until very recently, even now I prefer him in rompers or dungarees to tops and bottoms.
Your baby bag will rarely leave your side and you will never leave the house without it, it is worth buying a good quality, decent sized one. It will be your handbag for the next few years and you will need to stash a lot of stuff in there so get one with lots of pockets. I have a pink lining one and love it, although it could be a tad bigger.
Oooh, I have got one. Where possible try things out before you buy them, my LO hates bumbos and it was a mammoth waste of money for us but he loves his friends swing and I wish I had bought one back when we would have got some use out of it. Like LB, he was almost 9lb at birth and hated being swaddled so he went into grobags within a few days and slept much better for it.
I think the most important thing is being flexible, they like to keep you on your toes so don't have hard and fast plans, take their lead on what they like and dislike and be prepared for no 2 days to ever be the same! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I love every second with him! Lots of luck!!
Definitely agree with what the girls have said above. Particularly not fighting those times when they won't go back to sleep. It really doesn't last forever and you will treasure those sleepy middle of the night cuddles when they're 6 and 7 months old and won't ever sit still on your knee let alone curl up for a cuddle with you!
trying before you buying is an absolutely genius idea. We didn't do this until after she was born (and had already bought all the big stuff) but I wish we had as it would have saved us some money. In particular the pram/pushchair - I know this is tricky as it's the first thing you want to buy when you're pregnant (well it was for me anyway!) But it really is worth it. I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship with my Quinny Buzz and if I'd tried it beforehand I don't think I would have a bought it. Have you got any friends with Toddlers? A good friend of mine borrowed an iCandy off a friend of hers with a toddler (so iCandy was languishing in the garage in favour of a stroller) and used it until LO was 7 months old, has now give it back and bought a lighter weight Baby Jogger City Mini. Genius idea if you ask me as I'm ??700 out of pocket from buying an all singing all dancing travel system and will still buy a stroller soon!
Scrounge as many clothes and toys off people as you can. I thought I'd never do this before DD was born but they grow SO quickly and end up costing you a fortune. We've got a little 'Circle of girls' going on amongst my friends and we've passed so many clothes/toys etc on to the next one...saves so much money.
We did manage to borrow a sling off someone when DD was little to make sure she liked it before spending ??60 on one. I guarantee you most parents will have an unused one lying under a bed/in a cupboard somewhere!
hmmm what else...can't think of anything at the minute but just enjoy every single moment. They're not babies for 2 minutes!
xxxx