Share with WaterWipes what you wish you were told before the arrival of your new born - chance to win £300! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

The team at WaterWipes would love to hear what you wish you'd been told before the arrival of your new born.

We all can recall those innocent days before the arrival of baby and the impact having a child can have on your life so please share on this thread what you wish someone had told you - or what you were told which was especially useful!

Here's what WaterWipes says: "WaterWipes contain only 2 ingredients: 99.9% Water and 0.1% grapefruit seed extract. Non-irritating to even the most sensitive of children’s or Mums’ skin, WaterWipes help prevent and alleviate nappy rash and other sensitive skin conditions. WaterWipes are the only baby wipe ever to be endorsed by Allergy UK. We think they're great for newborns and we'd love to hear what other pearls of wisdom you wish you knew before your baby arrived!"

Please share a comment on the thread: you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win £300 voucher for the store of choice (from a list). Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

I wish i had been told to have back up formula even if intending to fully breastfeed.
DH had to go out at 5am on our fort night at home as breastfeeding was a struggle and DS had been crying in hunger most of the night

Stock up on food that you can eat with one hand / while holding a baby

I wish someone had told me how noisy babies can be when they sleep! All that wriggling and snuffling and gentle whinging had us both on edge throughout the night, wondering what was wrong. It was only when the health visitor explained about active sleep and inactive sleep that we realised he was fine and we didn't need to worry!

I wish I'd been told that a dummy can be given to the Easter bunny in exchange for easter eggs whereas fingers are there to stay forever.

I was very anti dummies when DC was born. He found his fingers instead and 14 yrs later he is still having expensive dental treatment and we are paying for it.

Not to have expectations of how motherhood is going to be. Not one Mum I know has had the experience she expected. After being told I could not have children without heavy medical intervention from the age of 14 I was completely unprepared for 3 naturally conceived children. One has ASC, one is the most confident child ever and the other is the only boy on our family so I have no one with experience of boys to ask advice.
Not one is the type of child I was and it's daunting until you realise no body is prepared for their child's personality because they are unique.

That the time goes so so fast and I would want a hundred more if I could. Oh and even as teens wet wipes are the best- they help with a multitude of things....

That you can't put them down to start with because they scream. And that's NORMAL. It's not your baby being difficult or trying to get attention. They need you, a lot more than you expect. Pick them up and cuddle them, all day long. And all night long. And enjoy the cuddles because before you know it they don't want them anymore. Baby cuddles are the best.

first one is - if your family don't live near you - you WILL feel lonely and find it HARD, that's normal you're not rubbish.
secondly - when you want to go out anywhere leave at last an hour longer than it should take - and just plan for the fact they will poo AFTER you have the snowsuit on and you will need to take it off. it will make your life a lot less stressful!

That breastfeeding can be painful at first even if you're doing it right, but that it does become pain free eventually. That you will feel guilty about everything forever more and that's normal. That it's totally ok to cuddle your baby to sleep/cuddle your baby at night/pick up your baby when he/she cries - you honestly honestly can't spoil a newborn. Enjoy the newborn phase, it passes far far too quickly.

Seriously I wish I'd known about water wipes. MONTHS I spent using cotton wool and water, with it falling apart. . Sticking to her bum.. generally being a faffy pain!

Due in November and stocking up on Waterwipes to save my sanity!

I wish I had been told I'd struggle to be 'me' as the pre-baby 'me' no longer existed. I had to re-define myself. I found the loss of self really difficult to cope with.

I wish I had been told how incredibly HARD it is. Everyone talks about snuggly newborns and of course being awake in the night. But dear God. Surviving on 3 hrs sleep for 18+ months was horrific.

I wish I had been told how many varieties of poo to expect. Since having DD I have sniffed countless bottoms and had so many in-depth discussions about poo that I have come to the conclusion that it must be a big secret that nobody tells you about in advance.

I wish someone had told the childbirth bit isn't actually that bad, but that the couple of weeks after would be agony. Everyone said "oh yeah, I was the same" WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME BEFORE SO I COULD MENTALLY PREPARE!!!!!

Maybe I got lucky but I never found the sleep deprivation that horrific. When he was tiny I did used to sleep when he slept as much as possible - even if that meant dozing when he was asleep on my chest - I wedged myself into a big v-shaped pillow so I couldn't move an inch which felt safe enough for me. When we had really bad nights I would go to bed very early (8pm) and let DH deal with waking for a few hours. I then had 3-4hrs sleep banked so even if I was up for the rest of the night it was bearable.

That I could put her down for a few minutes to MN make a cup of tea and she would be ok, even if she was crying!

I wish I had known that fluids would leak from my entire body.
Sweat, blood, pee, milk. And tears. Endless, hot salty tears that flowed for no apparent reason.
I also wish someone had told me it was normal to feel that the baby preferred her daddy. In fact it was probably because he was calmer and had more energy to walk around jiggling her which soothed her far quicker.

And also I wish I had known that it would fly past in the blink of an eye and even though 24hrs felt like an eternity, I would give anything to live them again.

I wish someone had told the my now ex husband the signs for PHD .

I wish someone had told me that not all newborns are cuddly and sleepy. My DS wanted to he held constantly, but only on our shoulders whilst we jiggled and even then he squirmed. He also fought sleep and cried A LOT.

I also wish someone had told me not to compare babies (especially on Facebook) as this left me feeling depressed and inadequate. I'm still learning not to do this.

Firstly, I totally agree with the dummy comment. A friend of mine remembers not going on holiday with her best friend's family because they would find out she still sucked her thumb at night (aged 15!) Dummies can be thrown away at some point.
But the main thing I wish I had known is babies are much tougher than they look and you should make them fit your routine rather than the other way around. I was awful with our first - so stupid about baby's routine/the right thing to do etc whereas with the next, I was much more laid back and I think this was communicated to the baby.
Finally, if a baby screams on first day/night home and you've tried everything, try feeding again. Seriously, we were still up at 3.30 with screaming baby number one. My sister was staying and dragged herself out of bed to tell us ...that baby is hungry. Can't be - in hospital she was full on 15ml and she's had 25ml in the past hour. But, I gave baby more milk and she immediately went to sleep afterwards. Their milk intake/hunger can increase rapidly.

I wish somebody had told me that the envelope neck vests can be removed downwards so you don't get poo on the baby's face/hair! I can't believe that after 2 children of my own and over a decade of midwifery that I didn't know that!

That for the first 3 months your baby will be all over the place, adjusting to life on the outside rather than in this lovely cosy warm watery cocoon and not the real child they're going to be! Overnight, one day, it will all change and come together!!

I wish someone had told me that it's hard at first, and that's fine!

That even though they sleep a lot to begin with, you will never ever manage to finish a cup of tea. That you will eventually find "a new normal" although it may not feel like it initially.

I wish now I had drawn round his whole body or taken more photos with him next to something so you could see his size...I can barely remember what it felt like to hold a tiny tiny baby!

What we hadn't realised is that we may never ever get another 'day off' ever. For 11 years I have not had a night away from my kids apart from popping to hospital to give birth to the others and that's tiring!

Some people are lucky enough to have friends and family around to help so you get some 'time off' but if you don't then just try to really appreciate and make the most of any 'me time' you can squeeze in with little ways of pampering yourself at home.

I would also say that my approach to household cleaning and chores had to change and we had a whole new set of standards where only essential jobs got done for a long time and everything else just had to wait.

Basically anything to reduce the pressure on yourself and make life easier - that's important with a newborn around.