Newborns - Practical tips!

[BinglyBinglyBeep]

My sister's first baby is due in April, and I'm trying to come up with a list of practical hints and tips. My DD is a year old and most of it was lost in the newborn haze I think! Help me mumsnet!

To get the list started, I have:

1. Baby vests can be taken off upwards or downwards in case of a poonami!

1. Newborn nappies have an indicator which shows when they are wet (seriously, I was changing DD all day every day and I never noticed the colour change!)

Over to you!

Babies cry. Don't panic about stopping them. Comfort them and talk to them and tend to their needs but after that just be there for them.
(Obvìously excluding problematic crying)

I wish I took that advice the first time round! Second baby has been a dream.

Use a white noise machine or phone app and low gently on their faces to stop them crying / grislingvwhen being changedcetc. They love it!

when they get wind you can lie them on their back and 'bicycle' their legs. often more effective then patting on the back.

also buying travel mugs so you can drink a hot cuppa safetly over their head 20 mins after you made it makes alot of difference. alot of tea goes cold otherwise!

Have a large coffee table within easy reach of where you sit to feed and load it up with remote, phone, drink and biscuits.

Something I wish I had known is how important sleep is for a baby. When they are brand new they tend to sleep easily as much as they need (assuming all healthy and no colic etc). However, once they are a couple of months they ‘wake up’ to the world and find it harder to just fall asleep when they need it and start needing more help to drop off. I recommend researching baby awake times to know how often they should be sleeping.

This is advice I wish I had been given as my DD had many a meltdown where we thought she must be sick/hungry etc and looking back, she just needed to sleep and was overtired and angry!

Amazon prime subscription for next day delivery of things you need. Netflix subscription for mindless viewing whilst cluster feeding.

Look up awake time and things like that for age of babies. With my DS I had no clue how much he was supposed to sleep in the day and probably spent ages trying to calm an overtired baby.

With DD I remembered from the start and it was much easier all round.

Clearly ThatGirl82 had the same experience as me!

And yes second amazon prime

Third on the sleep times but also a warning not to get too obsessed with them!

Read up on EASY

Know how to fit your car seat before you go into labour

Google the 4th trimester

House handbag! Mine has tissues, pain killers, nipple cream, a nail file (sitting under a baby a with a raggedy nail is torture), infacol, lip balm, Soreen snacks, eye mask (for hopeful daytime napping), phone etc.

Have plenty of phone chargers around. And water bottles. Wherever you sit most (probably bed and the sofa). A bag of muslins in those places too.

I also saved various pictures in a folder on my phone e.g. chart of temperate and what baby should be wearing. Easy to pick up and check.

These are all so true! I will get her a travel mug, far superior to the "husband holds cup of tea which I drink in one gulp through a straw" technique I initially tried :)
Also, yes to researching sleep, having feeding stations and ALL of the subscriptions!
I would add to the babies cry sometimes comment that it's fine to feed them, even if it has only been 30 minutes. We had a noticeable 4th trimester in retrospect and DD wanted the comfort.

Buy good quality breast pads, I started with cheap ones and was soaked all day long.

Everyone has an opinion on everything, from whether you should breast feed down to whether you put pretty shoes on them. So do what you think is right and makes you happy.

I'm not a tea drinker so have a water bottle with a straw that my dp makes me juice in.

Nipple sheilds are a life saver if breastfeeding is getting too sore. So are heat patches for the engorgement phase.

My DP likes control and felt that he didn't have any as we are breast feeding and he couldn't help with any of the night feeds to let me sleep. Remind them that dad does have a role in supporting mum. Make the drinks, pass the tv control, cook the dinner, do the housework. All helps mum to relax and helps the baby.

Don't worry about making rods or sleep crutches .
Honestly hold them . Cuddle them . No need to worry about bad habits when there new born .
I spent so much time trying to put dd down to nap when she'd of been happier and got more sleep napping on me in the early days

Have somewhere safe to put the baby in every room - I got an extra bouncer for the kitchen and used a change mat on the bathroom floor.

Visit your local breastfeeding support group before you have the baby, much less daunting then with a few day old baby if you're having issues.

Lansinoh cream is the best for sore nipples, use even before they get bad.

Something I didn't realise was that bottle teats and dummies are different sizes for different ages. Someone had to point it out to me (my first baby was rarely bottle fed and didn't use a dummy so I was clueless!)

Don't panic if your baby doesn't like to be put down. Buy a sling, something like a close caboo, and wear baby until the phase passes...which it will.