important things to get done before baby arrives

[flymo79]

anyone got any "I wish I'd done that before the baby arrived" tips? am thinking along the lines of making sure we both know how car seat works, doing a big shop etc.....

Batch cook. Im pregnant again so planning on doing it this time around.

batch cooking and pre booking 6 weeks of supermarket deliverys.

Buying clothes a size bigger- I thought Id at least fit in maternity wear, I didn't dh had to nip to Tesco and grab a few things.

Arrange for a cleaner/someone to iron/dog walk for a while.

moving house.

Watching with interest!

I wish I had put a stair gate on before the baby started to crawl. I found it impossible to do on my own with a crawling toddler.

Sleep.

Batch cook - it's a life saver
Get everything ready, including install car seat
Get pushchair ready too
Paper plates and cups
Fridge stocked up
Cupboards stocked up
Take away menus on standby

Infacol
Pain killers
Bottles of water
Snacks

This is my list for pre-dc2:
Batch cooking
Deep clean the house (hopefully not me doing all of it!)
Cinema (while dd in nursery)
Plan some simple meals for DH to cook
Sleep.

And yes how could I forget: sleep, rest and relax! Enjoy your last moments of true freedom

Either batch cook or make sure you have food in to su

Sleep.

Pretty much everything else can be sorted post baby.

Sleep.

More sleeping.

Etc.

Watching with interests..... dc1 due in the not too far future. ...!

Hmm okay, I suppose you do have to figure out how the car seat works. Apart from that though.. As you were.

Nothing really. I know that does not apply to all babies, but newborns do tend to sleep a lot, so I had plenty of time for everything. Was quite bored, actually.

Either batch cook or make sure you have quick and easy food like pasta in the house so you can eat. I forgot to eat properly for months

Make sure you all know how to work the car seat, the pushchair and it's 4000 attachments, and the steriliser, bottles breast pump etc.

Stock up on some serious painkillers.

Do as much cleaning and laundry as you can manage.

Stock up on box sets, fill your DVR, download stuff to your Kindle so you're ready for the inevitability of being stuck to the sofa for hours on end!

Sort out some clothes for you for the first few weeks, nice comfy, baggy clothes.

Nice private moments with your OH.
We are due our first baby in 2 weeks, and spent all day yesterday in bed together watching Netflix and chatting (it was a bank holiday in dublin) only getting out of bed to eat.. plan on doing the same thing next Sunday (if the baby doesnt make an appearance in the meantime)- It was SO nice!!

Planning to batch cook and freeze this coming weekend and also buy at least 20 or 30 large bottles of water!

Have a fabulous sit down and read a book from cover to cover in peace. Nap a little later if you like. Just have some lovely uninterrupted rest, because rest once you are a mother is available but often in short bursts and frequently interrupted. Your baby will either be a) somewhere else or b) about 2 before you read a book in this manner again

DP can cook once baby is here, that's what we did anyway!

On a more practical note, practice folding pram/chassis/wheels into car boot. I failed miserably at this 3x with each baby and a new pram each time!

It's a bit stressy doing it while newborn looks on...

Get

Get Netflix and favourite any films or series to watch. Add lots of books to kindle.
Mine were both fairly boring babies and slept or just laid on lap and fed most the time first 6 months so had loads of time to watch crap and read. Started working from home again by 12 weeks to stop Boardem.
Oh and baking ingredients and recipes online. I did loads of cooking fancy dishes and baking bread with baby asleep in Moses basket in kitchen for something to do

Look up baby cinema times. Again, baby sleeps and feeds and you can watch something with popcorn

Snacks, bottled water with a sports top are much easier than trying to drink from a glass when feeding.

With dd1 I wished I'd bought some small baby clothes a couple of weeks before I was due (so they can be taken back) as she was tiny so had to shop with a two day old baby.

Cleaner, cleaner, cleaner. If there is a time in your life to treat yourself this is it. My husband tried his best but he's naturally filthy and dispute lots of blood, swet and tears I can't usally tell the difference after he's "cleaned". I needed mums help with the baby and fetching a caring for me. I am so glad that we had the cleaning covered, especially on the day we came home from hospital. My lovely lady had even bought flowers, aired the upstairs and changed all the bed sheets. Xx

Make sure you're set up for online supermarket shopping. Have a list ready of all your basics and regulars so that it a easy to do your shopping and have it delivered direct to your kitchen.

Sleep.

Comfy clothes.

Painkillers.

Sleep.

Camera charged.
Loads of vases (borrow if necessary).
Practice folding the pram.

On my pre-birth to-do list:

-Wash all the second hand clothes
-Buy some packs of clothes v close to due date in different sizes that I can easily return if not needed.
-refresh my memory on how to use my camera properly so I can take nice photos and not just rubbishy snaps

• make something for the baby (not sure what yet, just plan to have some kind of craft project to entertain myself)

Most things can be worked out at the time I found. Newborns, as a pp pointed out, sleep a lot. And you won't (shouldn't) be rushing about the place after giving birth so it leaves lots of time (most of which involves sitting on the couch).

As long as you have access to the internet (for ordering things) and some form of entertainment for interminable hours of breastfeeding the rest can be done by your other half or not done for a bit.

Although I was quite glad we had a cleaner... And I did wish I'd pre-ordered a doughnut pillow.