newborns - what do i do?

[tentative123]

So with childbirth imminent, I've turned my mind to what happens next. I've done quite a bit of reading and discarded lots and liked lots. Also am planning to bf. My plan is as follows:
Boob1
Boob2
Change nappy
Put for sleep
Boob1 when wakes up etc
Simples?

Does this sound reasonable? Or will baby fall asleep on boob? If so when will i change the nappy? I figure ill not worry about timings, and at the start assume hunger as a default or if the baby is awake more than i anticipate then assume hunger if it looks like it needs sommat.
Would you believe me if i said i wasn't ftm?

Can I make a suggestion?

Throw out any plan you may have, because your baby will be unco-operative and will not read it no matter how hard you try. Nor will it show much interest in the books that you have so appreciated gaining advice from. Any kind of plan with a newborn is generally going to lead to stress.

If baby cries, offer it a boob. If baby isn't hungry then it's either nappy, too hot, too cold, lonely, uncomfortable, or just telling you it doesn't like your choice of TV channel.

Change the nappy when it needs doing because baby WILL do something off-plan like poo when having Boob1, or when sleeping, or you will find that actually, baby doesn't want to sleep after the Boob2 and wants to either do another poo or protest loudly at not being held by you for what will feel like eternity and your arms go to sleep.

Or baby will want to cluster feed, and go Boob1 Boob2 Boob1 Boob2Boob1 Boob2Boob1 Boob2Boob1 Boob2Boob1 Boob2, again for what feels like eternity, before pausing to have 20 minutes sleep (without being put down mind, so you won't be able to go for that wee you're desperate for)

If you do have one that agrees the plan is a good idea, I apologise, and shall go and eat a hat

What you could do is Boob1 change nappy Boob 2 put for sleep.

You can't really plan, it depends on the baby! I have a 3wo and a toddler. When newborn both have:

woken up crying,
had nappy changed first,
had 1 boob,
gone to sleep - they sleep best in my arms or in bed with me but will usual transfer somewhere else okay, if they wake up I just start again with the cycle.
...and repeat with other boob.

As they get bigger I find they want both boobs sometimes.

I have no idea if that is normal or not but it works fine for us.

I always change nappy when she wakes - she's usually done something while she's sleeping. Then both boobs - she does fall asleep on the boob, but not always. I haven't been successful with putting her down to sleep but I didnt really have a plan . It's only now that she's 8weeks I wish I'd tried putting her down for a sleep in the early days.
Give it a go - doesn't hurt to try. If if doesn't work for you, try something else.

Thanks guys - clearly not totally unreasonable then! Might mix it up a bit with the ordering for some excitement! And see how we go. :)

I agree with Flissapps (and have a 3 yo and 3 month old) - the only plan is to have no plan. The baby will let you know their plan soon enough.

You cannot plan when to change nappy unless you are content for your little one to be sat in poo indefinitely! Admittedly newborn poos are not that offensive but their skin is so sensitive it is best to change when they have done a poo - often this can be during or after a feed as the feed stimulates the bowel but it could be whenever & sometimes a fresh nappy may only last 5 minutes!

Wow fliss, have you been hiding in my living room?!

OP, as a first-timer with a 5 week old on my lap I can definitely agree with what's been posted here. I've stayed away from all the books, and have found even the supposedly neutral and informative NHS book a pack of lies unhelpful in some places.

Best of luck

I found EASY from the baby whisperer good as a vague plan, no timings or anything just the order, same as what you have really

Eat - LHN or RHN (left hand nawk or right as named by husband - charming, normally how long she'd been on them)
Activity - usually a nappy change as nappy filling whilst feeding was the usual
Sleep - after the first day we did get her into the moses basket for naps which was brilliant
Y was meant to be 'you time' but funnily enough it never really felt we got to that bit

I had to write it down in the poo diaries (as they became known) as had no short term memory at all - it freed up my mind not stressing about remembering too. Would heartily recommend.

With a newborn you feed when they want, change a nappy when they poo and cuddle.

That's it.

You may have a baby that only wants one boob at a time (mine did) and I certainly didn't time it!

Do not kill yourself faffing with routines. DD (6 weeks) has changed so much already. DS fell into his own routine at 8-10 weeks then it changed as he got older anyway.

Relax! The first two weeks are great as baby will sleep anywhere etc etc then they wake up a bit more and by 6 weeks usually more alert. If anything like DD, they'll need even more cuddling!

As the others have said, see what works best for your baby, although there's no harm in trying the routine you've outlined.

For me, Boob 1, baby would poo, nappy change then Boob 2 would get her back to sleep. That worked pretty well through the newborn stage!

As others have said, it really depends on your baby. I stressed so much in the early days with DS because he wouldn't fit in with a routine (namely the EASY one by Baby Whisperer). We were both a lot happier once we started to go with the flow, namely because DS liked to sleep a lot and I wasn't trying to keep him awake for 'Activity' time'.

As for nappies, if your baby is anything like my DS was you'll be changing a lot more frequently than at feed times. Boy could piss for England, resulting in a lot of leaking nappies .

First six weeks is a free for all; go with feeding, changing, cuddling, sleep and generally whatever they need. Be prepared to feed LOTS if you are BFing.
After that, the EASY plan from the Baby Whisperer book is very sensible.