Advice you wish you had from the beginning

[Cintacmrs123]

Found myself the only 2nd time mum on the Post Natal Ward and ended up advising the other mum and realized that the books and blogs are helpful and sometime not (I had a 1st time mum almost in tears as she could not get her baby into a routine, I pointed out he was 24hrs old and that routines rarely work)
I am trying to get a list together of Advice Gems mums have picked up, that they wished they had known before birth or in this case just after-

-A change in formula from say Cow and Gate to SMA can make a big difference to how the child feeds (i.e they just may not like the formula)

• Just trust your instincts
  
• if a boy stops crying while his nappy is being changed , he is going to wee (men cant multi task)
  
• look at the babies lips if they are discolored he still has wind
  
• dont be afraid to ask, there is no such thing as a stupid question and if you get a odd look blame it on baby brain
  
• if breastfeeding get Lanolin and use it
  
• you can never have enough sick bibs/muslin
  
• buy baby grows with built in scratch mittens that open down the front (not at the bottom)
  

What advice would you give?

[Cintacmrs123]

Loving all the great advice - like the lanolin free before feeding. Have been passing them on to my ladies

[228agreenend]

Advice given by grandparents and other well meaning people is often a way of justifying how they bought their child up.

Very rarely mothers look as serene, calm and organised as the photos in parenting magazines, adverts etc

In reality, most mums struggle at some point, even they look 'sorted'

Not all babies sleep through the night after six weeks etc (mine were six months)

Baby development is not a competition. It doesn't matter who walks, speaks etc first. Ie. Don't compare,your baby to others.

You don't need a Moses basket (mine were never to sleep in them) and lots of other so called essential equipment. Also, the baby won't know whether s/he is dressed in a luxury baby grow or value one.

[nicolasixx]

So glad someone's come on to tell me not to feed my baby to sleep. Just wish I'd read this before I had four of them (all fed to sleep while breastfed I can imagine that might make bf a nightmare and much harder.
The problem with "advice" is one person's magical tip is someone else's problem!

[SaucyJack]

Babies and toddlers are very young.

Don't expect a level of maturity that they're not capable of, or attribute a meaning to their behaviour that isn't there.

They are acting like a one year old because that's what they are. Reason will come in time. Until then- go with what they understand.

[buddy79]

Lansinoh.
Very comfortable nursing bras, not those ridiculous ones you have to stick your nipples out of.
Muslins. Many of.
From NCT - have little 'stations' through the house with baby wipes, couple of nappies, little towel etc so you don't have to carry pooey/ sicky baby too far.
One thing that really helped me with naps was working out how long baby could happily stay awake before needing another nap, and working round that. So at first it was about half an hour but gradually gets longer and longer. I liked it as was baby led but still gave me some sense of what the day would hold!
Oh, and sling, sling, sling! Helps baby to sleep /burp/ feel calm all at once.

[Greenleave]

Position yourself in a comfortable position with back support as much as you can. I have a feeding chair and its a life saver, a must have, I need it more than anything, even now she isnt on my breasts or bottle, the chair is still in her room as a rocking chair where we share our precious bonding moments every night!

[Woobeedoo]

This thought occurred to me after I had given birth, I tried it, it worked and have told so many of my friends who've had babies and that is to put an empty plastic drink bottle in your hospital bag. Before every single pee, fill the bottle with tepid water and pour this slowly over your poor enflamed lady bits when you pee. Really takes the pain away, I forgot once and pee'd without ("Hey, what harm can it do?" I thought. I'll tell you that I went a little bit cross eyed and bit my arm quite violently to try to numb the pain).

Oh, and babies make so much noise when they sleep! They snort, snuffle, grunt, fart, burp, hiccup and wheeze however, there will be a moment when you do that "Shit, is he/she breathing?!" because they've suddenly gone all silent. It is impossible to see a babies chest rising and falling at night in a plain colour baby gro. Buy bold horizontal stripes. SO easy to see at 3am!

[justmyview]

Best advice we were given =

do your best & it'll all be fine

if baby wakes up, wait 2 mins before intervening. usually, baby will fall asleep again

don't start anything you're not willing to continue for another 12 months (eg soothing baby until he sleeps)

[birdling]

If ff, when the kettle has boiled, put a measured amount of boiled water into a sterile bottle (probably about half of the water you would usually make the bottle up with). Then put it in the fridge. When you make the next bottle, use half boiling water to put the powder into and shake. Then add the cold water from the fridge. Milk at perfect drinking temp in an instant. A godsend at night and costs nothing extra.

[Ifonlylovewouldsavetheday]

Weleda calendula cream is amazing, I can still smell it, far better than any others and 100% great value as one application before bed and the rash would have disappeared in the morning.
I only used it occasionally when DCs had rash but it is so fast acting it is well worth the price

[Ifonlylovewouldsavetheday]

Birdling that is fab advice

[CantGetYouOutOfMyHead]

Before the baby is born, dig out a comfy tracksuit, trainers and rain jacket, and learn how to put to rain cover on the pram. Get out and walk as soon as you can. Get fresh air, exercise, and head space as soon as you feel you can.

[purplebud]

Don't worry if it is all completely terrifying to begin with. Ask for help. Rest whenever you can. Don't feel guilty if you feel you aren't doing the 'right' things. Eventually you will tune in to your baby, just at first it can seem like you have been given a really weird new pet to take care of.

[Baconyum]

"Not all babies sleep through the night after six weeks etc (mine were six months)" mine was almost 6 years!

"It is impossible to see a babies chest rising and falling at night in a plain colour baby gro. Buy bold horizontal stripes. SO easy to see at 3am!" Genius idea! I didn't like plain as showed all the marks but still genius.

Calendula hand lotion also excellent for early days when you're washing hands a lot. Pump action easiest.

[plimsolls]

I'm kind of bumping this thread to say thanks to all posters. I'm 5weeks in and am finding these words of wisdom really helpful (and quite moving but that could be the new baby hormones!)

[snakesalive]

Always use contraception

[MaudlinNamechange]

It's a marathon, not a sprint. Do what you need to do, not just best for baby, but to try, as far as possible, to set up systems and expectations that allow you to have a decent life for the next 20 years. If you have a partner, don't default to you doing everything, even if it seems easier to do it than to educate and delegate at times. Remember that we're talking years here. Try never to get too severely exhausted if there is ever an alternative you can take - because it's your life too and you should at least be in some fit state to attempt to enjoy some of it.